By: debbie lynn elias
A film that really piqued my curiosity at the 2008 Los Angeles Film Festival, and now available on DVD, comes from a filmmaker for whom I have much admiration – Jeff Stimmel. A 15 year tv/film production veteran, Stimmel entered the wonderful world of art and the wild and wacky world of the genius of Chuck Connelly to bring us THE ART OF FAILURE: CHUCK CONNELLY NOT FOR SALE.
In the 1980’s Chuck Connelly was at the top of his game. A world reknowned neo-expressionist painter often described by many professionals in the art world as “Van Gogh reincarnated” he ranked in notoriety and wealth with Julian Schnabel (who recently directed the Spirit Award winning “The Diving Bell and The Butterfly.”) With earnings in excess of $1 million, his works were housed in a permanent collection in the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. But, unfortunately for Connelly, ego and alcohol reared their ugly heads and by 1990, Connelly was a has been. Alienating almost every if not every art dealer in the world that handles neo-expressionist work, as many opined during this film, “Connelly was his own worst enemy.” His kiss of death, however, came when he bad-mouthed Martin Scorsese who used Connelly’s works and Connelly’s talents in his film “NY Stories” and the segment “Life Lessons” with Nick Nolte. Scorsese, who could have put Connelly into the homes and private collections of very major Hollywood player, cut Connelly off at the knees after Connelly’s tyrade against him. Connelly became so volatile and hostile he even alienated his sponsor who promptly cut off his $2,500.00 per month stipend.
When paintings stopped selling, shows were cancelled and no one wanted to deal with Connelly’s demons no matter how brilliant a painter he was, he moved to Philadelphia where he still lives today, his home filled to the rafters with probably 2,000 unsold paintings and where he still paints everyday. A graduate of Tyler Art School in Philadelphia he was showing his works at major galleries by 1979 as both Chuck Connelly and his alter ego Fred Scaboda, but no more. Retreating further into the bottle and an advocate of “better living through chemistry” Connelly lost his wife and thanks to his volatility and hostility, even alienated his sponsor who promptly cut off his $2,500.00 per month stipend.
With no show since 1999, eventually Jeff Stimmel wandered into the picture and began filming Connelly in 2002 and continued to do so until late 2007. With drunken ragings captured not only by Stimmel’s camera but through home movies made by Connelly himself, the vulgarity along with the disgust and disdain that Connelly has for everyone and everything presents a haunting vision of the self-imposed hell into which this great talent has descended.
Shooting over 300 hours of footage, it was apparently Connelly’s hope that he would become the subject of a reality show and thus re-establish himself and have a steady income again. That’s not to say that Connelly hasn’t tried to sell his works and re-enter the art world. He has by way of a grand scheme which Stimmel captured on film whereby Connelly hired actor, David Nelson, to portray his alter ego from the 70’s and ‘80’s , Fred Scaboda, whom he created during his days at Tyler. (As Connelly tells it, he originally came up with the idea of Scaboda and his signature “black dot” on the canvas while taking a hit of acid driving on the turnpike into a tunnel.) Interestingly, Nelson as Scaboda created stories about the genesis of each Scaboda painting in the portfolio Connelly put together and went from dealer to dealer trying to “sell” Scaboda’s works. Many dealers expressed interest and valued some of the paintings from $5,000 to $6,000. Unfortunately, when the dealers were scheduled to come view the paintings they expressed an interest in, Connelly pulled a fast one on Nelson and had “new” paintings on display which he also signed on the back as Chuck Connelly, not Fred Scaboda.
The film is a fascinating portrait of a complex man. What is particularly interesting is that Connelly knows hiss complexities, knows his talents but he also knows his demons and he knows that he caused the dire predicament he has been facing for the past years; of course that clarity only comes during the brief periods of sobriety we are privy to on screen.
Footage of Connelly painting is enlightening. He has the most expressive hands and Stimmel’s camera captured every fluid movement, every nuance. Those scenes were pre mastery on the part of both the filmmaker and the subject. According to Connelly, “It inspired me to be watched.”
Key to the film’s interest is Paul Heredia’s editing which includes numerous slide shows of Connelly’s works, some of which are exquisite and which I wouldn’t even mind owning. In a recent interview, Stimmel opined, “One thing I hope people will take away from the film is that, despite all of his flaws and blemishes, Chuck is very inspiring.” The one hope I have is that Stimmel’s film exposes more people to the talents of Chuck Connelly and finally resurrects that interest and restores him to the stature he once had in the art world. There is a beauty in his paintings that belies the ugliness of his soul.
Directed by Jeff Stimmel.
