G. Eric Kuskey

An incredible story yet the slant of the author left me wondering. Eric Kuskey was a long time employee of Thomas Kinkade and through Bettina Gulois narrates his rags to riches and ultimate unwinding. At first I thought this would be a tell all of a disgruntled former employee but it becomes more evident as the story progresses that Kuskey despite disapproving of Kincade's Jekyl and Hyde personal life did love the guy.

Kinkade through his common man artistry of light, a solid man of God and love of family, resorts to heavy drinking and nonstop carousing in his down time cutting quite an enigmatic figure. The art formula and his witnessing to the glory of God is converted into a multi-billion dollar empire that also enriches those closely associated with him. It all comes crashing down when the little people who try to tag along get burned through over-saturation of the market and questionable business practices. Yet in the final outcome he and his close associates walk away with millions, though it did finally cost him his life. Only in America.

So Kinkade a man certainly of artistic talent and a fervent believer of Christian principles also takes his pleasure through crude antics with women and urinating from a balcony on people below. Yet in the end he is portrayed as a fun loving bear of a man who had his flaws and could not get control of his dark side. So the moral of the story is, do what thou wilt but be prepared to live or die with the consequences.… (plus d'informations)

I had hoped that this book would shed some light on the artist behind the phenomenon. Was he a sincere outsider or a canny huckster? The authors do a fine job describing the rise and fall of the Kinkade media empire, but the man behind it never comes into clear focus, his achievements lost behind the enterprise and his humanity mired in his media-ready public persona.

I wrote a lengthier review for Hyperallergic: rel="nofollow" target="_top">http://hyperallergic.com/194942/the-mystery-of-the-painter-of-light/… (plus d'informations)

What was I hoping for here? I am an anti-admirer of Thomas Kinkade, the self proclaimed and trademarked "Painter of Light". I would always stick my tongue out in disgust when I saw his crapola advertised in Parade Magazine, along with all that other collectible schlock - coins, plates, dolls, etc.

Well, it's even sadder and worse than that. Kinkade grew up desperately poor and hungry, his family abandoned by his father, his mother working three jobs and still unable to keep her boys fed. Kinkade never recovered, although he went on to achieve universal fame, if not acclaim. He was a raving alcoholic who ruined his life and his kitschy empire. His company bilked many of his "Christian" followers out of their life savings and used the shadiest of practices, all the while evoking God.

So, I feel sorry for his textbook fall from grace into death by booze. But what he made was never art, and there are so many artists in every medium who will have to abandon their own dreams while Kinkade bilked the unknowing and didn't do anything to make anyone else's life any easier. Homes, cars, boats, poker games, sexual harassment, it's all there and all emblematic of the American philosophy: I've got mine and the rest of you can just get lost.… (plus d'informations)