The Art of Failure
Jeff Stimmel’s new documentary, The Art of Failure: Chuck Connelly Not For Sale, is an intriguing character study on the kind of personality flaws that tend to get in the way of success within the always volatile world of fine art.
Connelly, an artist who has sold close to a million dollars worth of paintings in his lifetime, was once at the peak of the 80s NY art scene alongside Julian Schnabel and Jean Michel Basquiat until his hard drinking and inability to bite his tongue sent him spiraling into relative obscurity. The film does a great job of presenting Chuck’s social skills (or lack thereof) in such a way that you can’t even imagine that their is anything even remotely talented beneath his abhorrent surface until his insanity miraculously manages to win you over with it’s sheer absurdity. Yelling at waiters, screaming in the street, talking to his dead mother through his shoe, struggling to sell his paintings for barely $500; there are times where you can barely watch the self destruction unfold but over the course of the 60 minute documentary you are absolutely convinced that Chuck’s genius is 100% the real thing.
As the film rollicks back and forth between interviews with critics, friends, fans, and detractors interspersed alongside the obligatory home video footage of crazy breakdowns, a new character suddenly emerges. Absolutely his most intriguing and unique creation, Connelly’s alter ego, Fred Scaboda is a very different turn from the work he is known for. More rough, unrefined and seemingly a true representation of his wild personality it’s of course not long before It becomes apparent that the only way Connelly can sell the work is by hiring an actor to pose as the fictitious Scaboda and shop the portfolio around to galleries. As the actor presents the work to a few art dealers it seems very likely that Scaboda paintings could be in high demand, but in true Connelly fashion, the news of gallery interest immediately drives him to sabotage the whole thing by having the actor present a room full of 5’ X 5’ paintings depicting a colorful explosion of round busty women in the throes of lesbian lust to the prospective buyers. Insane, hilarious, sad, and one of the most candid depictions of artistic self destruction set to celluloid; The Art of Failure just might be enough to pull Chuck out of the garret and once again back to the top of the heap, but I don’t think he’s counting on it.
-Clayton Vomero
Click here to watch a video about Chuck.
