"Modern art is a con and I am the world’s greatest con artist" - Mark Kostabi
The Life & Times of Mark Kostabi.Art often resists the urge to become commercialized and factory driven, yet Mark Kostabi has made a career--twice--on making a factory studio to produce his art.
Con Artist is a documentary that follows Mark Kostabi's career as a rising revolutionary force in the mid-1980s New York art scene, through the world-wise recessionary period in the early 90s, and his attempt climb back into the stardom.
Con Artist explains blatantly in the beginning of the film that Kostabi is only addicted to fame. Bullied in public school and then adored in college for his art, Kostabi left for New York where he quickly found fame as an artist.
Kostabi chooses to employ other artists in his Manhattan studio to create more and more art at a faster pace, like a factory. Yet, even though these works of art were being spit out at a rampant pace, the quality of art was adequate. Kostabi only had to put his signature on it.
This poses the question, was Kostabi still an artist when others were the ones painting? Kostabi was is a business person who knows art, and knows it well. Even though others were creating the painting, Kostabi typically added his ideas, making each painting his own style.
