Kevin: After the Fire sample

Sample description from the in-production documentary following the artist Kevin Kutz.

This nearly eight-minute sequence of intertwined scenes covers Kevin's past winter, as he was busy creating 200+ mixed media pieces for two art openings (one of which was at the Warhol Museum; that opening is shown at the end of the video sample) while basically confined to his home because of a DUI drivers license suspension. So much of Kevin's art springs from his journeys to remote locations and painting on-site, but while housebound he had to rely on numerous photographs that he'd stockpiled leading up to his license suspension. The rest he added from his own imagination. Kevin discusses his artwork, philosophy on realism, inspirations, and his use of unconventional found materials as painting surfaces (due to his inability to afford enough canvases); in particular he describes using another artists painted canvases (which were to be destroyed and were instead donated to him) as a springboard for his own realistic visions.

Kevin does however venture out of his house to pay birthday wishes to his biological mother, Barbie—a kindred spirit to say the least. Although they were separated for the first half of his life, his ability to re-purpose mundane objects to create art uncannily mirrors Barbies own strange artistic experiments made from household objects, which cram every inch of space in her home. Its a striking testament to the power of nature over nurture. The persistent and sometimes eerie soundtrack to these scenes is supplied by Kevin and his band, the Coal Mountain Ramblers.

Cut from Kevin's own home movies (SD) and my own coverage (HDV) shot in April 2009, this video sample is a rough first cut, as we are still in production. Therefore, the sound and video are still raw, and no color correction or sound design has been done.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• grant
• art
• film