Horror and fine art. They are almost synonymous in some ways. The extremely high prices some will pay for paint on canvas. The way artists are treated in the industry and make pennies. But there is also an even darker side. One that hides behind the paint, that lives within the painter, and can escape through their hands and brushes to form what we see in front of us. Hanging in galleries, on walls in our house, or on sidewalks through large cities.
Enter Velvet Buzzsaw. A movie that encapsulates both the fine art world and those trying to make it rich, or stay rich at any cost. A man, Morf Vandewalt, is the person who tells those in the collecting community what is what, and if he says your art is garbage, you're done. When a young woman, Josephina, finds out that her upstairs neighbor has passed away, she looks in on his cat, only to find a trove of paintings the man has produced up until his death. Paintings that for a reason nobody can explain, captures the eyes and hearts of everyone that sees them, especially Morf. From the bottom of the barrel, she skyrockets to the top of the scene through the late man's paintings to show them in galleries and sell them for millions. It all comes at a cost though, one that will leave her wondering if she should have stayed clear of the meows from upstairs. A cutthroat industry, one that strikes an all too real chord to many.
As someone who dabbles in painting, I've always found it very interesting to know what people consider art. I've been to MoMa in NYC and honestly... was confused by a lot of it. I've sold my own paintings for a few hundred when all I asked for was payment in paint and canvas. I still, to this day, don't fully understand the draw to art collecting to be perfectly honest. I like going to museums and seeing the art.
A little while back I watched a documentary called The Price of Everything. An utterly fascinating feature of artists, collectors, and everyone in-between trying to understand what makes art art. What drives people to pay the prices they do, just to have a piece of canvas up on their walls, or statue in their living room. At the end of watching Velvet Buzzsaw, I felt like it was a well played out version of The Price of Everything, with horror elements thrown in. It truly is amazing what people will pay, and what others will do to grab the money while they can. Overall I'd give this movie a B+, and also invite those who haven't seen this or The Price of Everything, to watch both for an entertaining evening.
Written by Kyle Lybeck
Enter Velvet Buzzsaw. A movie that encapsulates both the fine art world and those trying to make it rich, or stay rich at any cost. A man, Morf Vandewalt, is the person who tells those in the collecting community what is what, and if he says your art is garbage, you're done. When a young woman, Josephina, finds out that her upstairs neighbor has passed away, she looks in on his cat, only to find a trove of paintings the man has produced up until his death. Paintings that for a reason nobody can explain, captures the eyes and hearts of everyone that sees them, especially Morf. From the bottom of the barrel, she skyrockets to the top of the scene through the late man's paintings to show them in galleries and sell them for millions. It all comes at a cost though, one that will leave her wondering if she should have stayed clear of the meows from upstairs. A cutthroat industry, one that strikes an all too real chord to many.
As someone who dabbles in painting, I've always found it very interesting to know what people consider art. I've been to MoMa in NYC and honestly... was confused by a lot of it. I've sold my own paintings for a few hundred when all I asked for was payment in paint and canvas. I still, to this day, don't fully understand the draw to art collecting to be perfectly honest. I like going to museums and seeing the art.
A little while back I watched a documentary called The Price of Everything. An utterly fascinating feature of artists, collectors, and everyone in-between trying to understand what makes art art. What drives people to pay the prices they do, just to have a piece of canvas up on their walls, or statue in their living room. At the end of watching Velvet Buzzsaw, I felt like it was a well played out version of The Price of Everything, with horror elements thrown in. It truly is amazing what people will pay, and what others will do to grab the money while they can. Overall I'd give this movie a B+, and also invite those who haven't seen this or The Price of Everything, to watch both for an entertaining evening.
Written by Kyle Lybeck
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