Interview:
Miranda Yousef,
director,
"Art for Everybody"
Maybe you did not own any Thomas Kinkade wall art, limited edition prints, collectible plates, or ornaments in the 1990s or 2000s but you probably know someone who did purchase any numbers of work by the so-called “Painter of Light.” Considered the most successful living artist at the peak of his popularity, Kinkade’s quick rise to fame and fortune and gradual fall from grace is chronicled in director Miranda Yousef’s Art for Everybody, a documentary devoted to separating the man from the artist while exploring the commerce behind the art. While the public Thomas Kinkade presented himself as the Painter of Light, a family man, and a devout born-again Christian, the private Kinkade suffered from depression, battled alcoholism, and reportedly engaged in inappropriate behavior before he died in 2012 at age 54 from an overdose of alcohol and valium. Yousef dissects Kinkade the workaholic, the salesman and performance artist, the cultural warrior, and the husband and father who lost himself. Not only does Yousef interview Kinkade’s ex-wife and four daughters but she also gains access to the vault that has held Kinkade’s 6,000 pieces of original art since 1987 that dates back to when the artist was 6 years old. Yousef also highlights the unseen works that could change both the public’ and the art world’s perception of Kinkade as a money-grabbing mall artist. Art for Everybody will screen during the SXSW Film & TV Festival at 5:45 p.m. March 13 at the Alamo South Lamar, 8:45 p.m. March 15 at the Stateside Theatre, and 12:30 p.m. and 1 p.m. March 16 at the Violet Crown Crown. Miranda Yousef makes her directorial debut wit. Art for Everybody. She previously edited the documentaries No Ordinary Campaign, No Small Matter, Daughters of the Sexual Revolution, Inequality for All, and Food Fight.
Aired: March 14, 2023 Web sites: https://schedule.sxsw.com/2023/films/2081787https://www.sxsw.com/festivals/film/ |
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