Friday, September 5, 2008

Have your pet painted as Napoleon or Honest Abe


Big news from the latest Poetry Scores board meeting at Atomic Cowboy: local artist Michael Lynch has been voluntered to donate the experience of "having your pet painted as Napoleon Bonaparte or Abraham Lincoln" to Experiential Auction 2008.
St. Louis, if you haven't noticed, is big on pets. (Not that auction participation is limited to St. Louis. Bid online! Email me now!) The biggest auction item last year - bigger than attending a Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra rehearsal as a guest of Maestro David Robertson - was "Kevin Belford paints your pet as The Mona Lisa."

The winning bid went to a man who could never sing Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Son" and mean every word. He is a senator's son! He is Tom Danforth. His father, Jack Danforth. His dog, Bob. Belford's rendition of The Mona Bob is above.

I wrote a goofy, mock press release at the time, quoting myself.

“The Gioconda, famously, bears an ambiguous facial expression,” said Poetry Scores creative director Chris King, using a pretentious alternative title for Leonardo da Vinci’s timeless portrait of Lisa Gherardini. “Not so much, however, with The Mona Bob. Bob – appropriately, I think, for a dog – is depicted with something of a shit-eating grin.”

As for Michael Lynch, I wrote a thumbnail review of his work in the context of The New Monastic workshop that has a typical painting attached. I can't wait to see what he will do with a dog as Napoleon or a pussy cat as Honest Abe!

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The 2008 Experiential Auction will be held 5-8 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 21 at Atomic Cowboy, 4140 Manchester Ave. Proceeds will benefit Poetry Scores, a St. Louis-based arts org that translates poetry into other media, such as music, paintings, film and dogs. Bidding starts now at $10 per item via email to me or comments here.

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