Art & Commerce: My Kid Could Paint That and Who the #$&% Is Jackson Pollock
Reviewer: James van Maanen
My Kid Could Paint That
Rating (out of 5): ****
Who The #$&% Is Jackson Pollack
Rating (out of 5): ***
Two recent documentaries provide some fascinating glimpses into art, artists, the media, marketing and the documentary process itself, all the while slapping the viewer this way and that, as the stories told (they're both mysteries of a sort) grow stranger, sadder and funnier until they approach the ridiculous and the sublime. Often at the same time.
You've undoubtedly heard about the subjects of these films, for both were covered by the media --mostly, as is typical of our "news," in bits, pieces and sounds bites. The beauty of these documentaries is the depth of exploration they provide. You may come away feeling less certain about "Is it or isn't it?" (in the case of Who the #$&% Is Jackson Pollack) or "Did she or didn't she?" (regarding My Kid Could Paint That), but you'll have entered a complicated world in which "truth" is not so easily accessed and may not exist at all. Best of all, even if you don't approach either film with any heavy-duty art credentials (or interest), both encompass so much more (class, wealth, parenting and responsibility, to start a very long list of themes) that they should easily grab and hold you.
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