Con Artist
Directed by Michael Sladek
TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL
ROME FILM FESTIVAL
HAMPTON FILM FESTIVAL
SARASOTA FILM FESTIVAL
GLASGOW FILM FESTIVAL
FLORIDA FILM FESTIVAL
US, 2010, 84 min
From the beginning, Mark Kostabi pronounced his raison d'être as an artist widely: to take all the cash and all the glory. A superstar during the frantic glory of the 1980s New York art world, Kostabi has unapologetically signed and sold thousands of paintings made by painters/ laborerswho attest to not having seen Kostabi paint for years. His practice reveals a shrewd critique of valuation in the modern art world, but when his purposeful skewering turned to ruthlessly biting the hands that fed him, he was rapidly jolted from the position of daring darling to the unspeakable persona non grata.
Press
Stephen Holden, The New York TimesAn entertaining documentary portrait of one of the art world's most outrageous provocateurs.
An entertaining boom-era fable
Nick Schager, The Village VoiceCompelling.
Jay Weissberg, VarietyAn entertaining reverie on the concept and addictive nature of celebrity.
Frank Scheck, The Hollywood ReporterAn entertainingly satirical doc
The filmmaker gives his...subject more than enough rope to hang himself
Benjamin Sutton, L MagazineAn excellent documentary
Diego Costa, SlantShows, effortlessly, what one does in the face of human loss
Jonathan Melber, The Huffington PostSladek was obviously not out to do a puff piece