Comments on: Variations of Failure: HBO’s New Documentary on Painter Chuck Connelly

By: corcoranart

corcoranart — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 23:25:41 +0000

Chuck is a great artist. He has a fantasy world in his work which is not common. He needs to keep some control all the same. Then, he will get there and quite fast. His art did not please all the art world because the art world has become somewhat a sour joke, pushing mediocre artforms installments, sharks in tanks, plexiglass this and aluminium that, he is the real thing, the artist and his view on the world we live in an the demons that haunt his mind. Great stuff

By: cartier art

cartier art — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:25:02 +0000

herr connelly ist ein grossartiger Künstler, und ein wahrhaftiger Mensch!

Künstler sein bedeutet in erster Linie Mensch sein,dies bedeutet den verzicht und die Einsamkeit, schliesst aber zugleich Kraft und Glauben in sich ein.(”Mensch werde wesentlich”).

Wann gehen den Zeitgenossen für das Wunder das in einer solchen Malerei, mit einer solchen Malerei verwircklicht ist, die Augen auf?

Ich grüsse Sie Hochachtungsvoll Maestro Sui Generis!

art cartier
marktgasse 27
4600 olten
041 62 212 32 74

By: vkw

vkw — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 05:26:48 +0000

I am fortunate to have one of chuck connelly’s paintings. It is a wonder - he has to be working from some higher place.

Did you see his work?

I don’t know about all you say about him personally, in the flick he just seems honest - and tired.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:50:47 +0000

You guys kill me. Hes a great artist…I have a few of his works…newer stuff, large and small. He has -0- to give outside of the work and has -0-level of compromise and that drives people nuts! “He’s sad, he’s a drunk, he’s a hack.” Give me a break. He IS the work. He is arguably one of the greatest living artist alive. As you know this is not the first time such a talent was not fully recognized by the world in a timley manner.
But I will give you this caution…never get too close…in the end you become disenchanted with first the artist and then the Self. Take the art, leave the artist. Obsorb the pure language of the work, and nothing more. That should be enough. It is enough. It’s all there is.

By: tangledweb

tangledweb — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 21:23:37 +0000

“…there’s an AA meeting starting at 7 in every church basement in every…” Are you f*ing kidding me? If it was that easy, don’t you think all alcoholics would just hie themselves off to said friendly little church meetings? Good lord. You make it seem as if people that far gone with alcoholism CHOOSE to drink…and whether or not you agree or disagree in the disease theory, it is most definitely not within one’s control after a certain point. I know what I’m talking about. I quit drinking 21 years ago, sans AA (no god crap for me, thanks: call it a higher power all you want, but that’s what they mean and everyone knows it) and if I hadn’t had the support of my husband and the desire to be a good mother to my new baby, I never would have done it. OK, all that aside, this man’s art rocks! What a bunch of sour grapes cynical disgusting judgmental idiots you who have missed that simple fact are! I have money and I intend to buy one or two of his paintings as soon as I can find out where and how. That’s the bottom line, people, who cares what the man’s problems/issues/weaknesses/illnesses or non-illnesses are- his paintings rock! He’s a f*ing genius and if you can’t see that, you need to go back to art appreciation 101.

By: deb

deb — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:28:28 +0000

how do i get in touch with chuck connelly i want to buy his work

By: The Hill

The Hill — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:58:30 +0000

The idea that alcoholism is a disease is an uninformed position. There are no pathogens to constitute an infection. Alcoholism is the result of using a habit forming drug through social sanctions like group/family approval. To say it’s a disease is an attempt to let the user off the hook, “Oh he can’t help it.” Alcohol related car accidents alone cause 22K deaths a year in America, yet it is one of the main drugs protected/facilitated/regulated by the Feds, The ATF, along w/ tobacco. That is by far more than all drug deaths put together. I quit drinking when I realized it was taking time away from my kids.

There are Connelly’s in every art school. Their poison is not worth the effort and this one here is as easily forgettable.

By: Suze

Suze — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 04:44:48 +0000

What a gorgeous artist. Who CARES if he’s an asshole? Is that unheard of in the art world? Among all arts? In any profession. My God, I wish I could buy his work. It’s AMAZING. heartbreaking that his value is based solely on his ability to kiss tush.

By: James Mc.

James Mc. — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:20:37 +0000

…”whose deep personality problems and alcoholism eventually caused his exile from the art world”

Certainly that was one of the major narratives of the film, but to me, it is pat and a bit forced and unconvincing.

To hear the film tell it, he was very successful and on the cusp of superstardom circa 1990, yet somehow his “arrogance” mysteriously ruined everything. He supposedly pissed off Scorcese and an influential gallery owner (a French woman whose name escapes me) and that was that. His career promptly went to shit. Is it really that simple though?

Can anyone really pinpoint why the very few accede to stardom while many enormously talented artists labor in obscurity?

The film amply demonstrates that Connelly is often a bitter, angry drunk (15 years after his apex of success), but perhaps that’s the result of his lack of success rather than the opposite.

The film did have a segment where it blows through several hundred of his paintings in a few minutes. I found myself stopping and rewinding countless times to admire the images.

He’s a great artist.

By: richard martin

richard martin — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:45:01 +0000

What an artist, his early works will one day be worth millions