A Brush With Fame: Can You Match The Celebrities With Their Art?

It's not that unusual that an actor, singer/songwriter or musician is also adept with a paintbrush, after all they are known for exercising their right brain and are considered 'creative' types. But apparently the same holds true for some serial killers, dictators and other notorious figures.

Just for fun, I've posted ten pieces of artwork by the following famous and infamous people; Adolph Hitler, James Dean, Eve Plumb (Jan Brady), Dr. Jack Kevorkian, Sylvester Stallone, John Wayne Gacy, Katharine Hepburn, Tony Bennett, Bill Maher and David Bowie.



See if you can figure out who painted which (answers are at the end). And yes, I know, those of you who are extra savvy will be able to tell by styles, subjects and eras.

1. Portrait Of Billy Gunn


2. Downtown Los Angeles


3. Birds


4. Shelter at Fournes


5. Dedication to 9/11


6. Head IV


7. title unknown


8. Real Patriots Pay US Taxes


9. For He Is Raised


10. Chrome napkin and ketchup


Answers:
1. actor and legend James Dean 2. singer and artist Tony Bennett 3. serial killer John Wayne Gacy 4. dictator and mass murderer Adolph Hitler 5. actor and artist Sylvester Stallone 6. singer David Bowie 7. actress Katharine Hepburn 8. pundit Bill Maher 9. Dr. Jack Kevorkian 10. actress and artist Eve Plumb (Jan Brady)


Relevant Links:
• Tony Bennett's own website
• Pop Life Art has many celebrity artists and their work
• You can check out the art work of more serial killers here.
• You can purchase some of Sylvester Stallone's paintings here
• some of the images in this post came from the Art Celebs Gallery where works by Bill Maher and Phyllis Diller amongst others are available for purchase
• Actors as Artists is a book authored by actors Jim McMullan and Dick Gautier (Charles E. Tuttle Company, Inc.) that was first published back in 1992.

Fashion Designer Kenzo Takada Exhibits His Paintings In Paris

above: Japanese fashion designer and painter Kenzo Takada poses with three of his paintings, on the first day of the exhibition. Wednesday June 16, 2010

Designer Kenzo Takada, who founded the upscale Kenzo label, has tried his hand at painting, with a Paris exhibition titled "Un Certain Style de Vie" ( A Certain Way Of Life) which showcases his eight self-portraits.


above: Japanese fashion designer and painter Kenzo Takada poses with one of his paintings, on the first day of the exhibition:" Un Certain Style de Vie", A Certain Way of Life, Wednesday June 16, 2010

The large-scale paintings shown at the Studio 55 gallery in Paris feature the Japanese-born designer in a series of flower-printed kimonos that recall the kinds of prints his label is known for.


above: detail of one of the 8 self-portraits in the Un Certain Style de Vie exhibit at Studio 55 in Paris

"Art and fashion are really not that different," Takada told The Associated Press in an interview.

A few of the self-portraits:


Details/close-ups:



Images from the exhibit at Studio 55:




Kenzo, who was born in 1939, leapt to fame in the 1980s with a high-end ready-to-wear line that gave Western garments an eastern touch. He says he started painting 10 years ago, after he sold his label to French luxury goods giant LVMH and subsequently retired.

The exhibit runs through July 10.

STUDIO 55 (en résidence chez Pierre Cardin)
3, 5 et 9 rue de Duras - 75008 PARIS
Métro : Champs-Elysées Clémenceau

special thanks to the Associated Press for info and some images, Pure Trend for some images and Getty images.

Earlier artwork by Takada:

PSST! By the way, the press keeps spinning this as if Kenzo had not ever created art before, but only clothes. Not true at all. You can see some of the couturier's previous art works, which were auctioned off in 2008 here.

See This Art Exhibit Before It Migrates. Borderland Birds By David Tomb.

There's only a few more days to visit this amazing art exhibit/installation at the San Francisco Electric Works gallery. The Borderland Birds / Aves Fronterizas, works on paper by David Tomb, featuring work inspired by Tomb’s birding trips to the borderlands of the United States and Mexico will close this Saturday, May 29th.

For this exhibition, Tomb, a celebrated painter of portraits of people, brings his rigorous attention to birds. Secondary to dealing with the subject matter of birds, Borderland Birds / Aves Fronterizas also highlights the impact of the US-Mexico border fence; a project environmentalists say spells disaster for the sensitive ecology of the region. Beyond simple cataloging and rendering of the splendid birds of the borderland region, Tomb's work calls to mind the plight of people who have to cross this border on a daily basis, a feat fraught with problems migrating birds do with relative ease.




Part drawing show, part installation, in the gallery Tomb recreates the sights and sounds of the borderland region by use of native vegetation and ambient sound recordings.



Viewers will be transported to two fragile and unique areas: the beautiful Sky Islands of Mexico/Southern Arizona and the Lower Rio Grande Valley that borders Mexico and Texas. While much of this habitat has been converted to corporate agriculture some remote hidden mountain canyons still harbor a rich trove of beautiful and rare creatures. Tomb’s exhibition will focus on the following species: Montezuma Quail, Aztec Thrush, Aplomado Falcon, and Coati.






Tomb combines experience in the field with research of bird specimens at the California Academy of Sciences and the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at UC Berkeley. His final masterful renderings of the birds are life size and depict the birds in their natural habitat. As an avid birder, Tomb has been lucky enough to have his nerves rattled by the freaky chorus of Chachalacas in the thorny scrub and to have glimpsed the jewel-like Elegant Trogon during July monsoons.

Here are some photos from the exhibit:






all information and images courtesy of the gallery and the artist.

Tomb received his BFA from California State University Long Beach and has shown nationally and internationally.

Plants for the installation generously provided by The Dry Garden, Oakland.

The SF Electric Works Gallery site. For purchasing information, please contact Noah Lang via email or at 415.626.5496. Prices and availability are subject to change.


if you're not familiar with Tomb's figurative work, check out my post on that here.

the artist's own website