WRITER'S BLOCK

Celebrity Self

In the shows-curated-by-Guardian-writers department, a much more successful example is Glen Helfand's "Celebrity/Self," currently at the S.F. Art Commission Gallery. Co-curated by Michelle Rollman, the show looks at how the concept of stardom can inspire or obsess and artist, how the line between celebrity-worshipper can often get blurry, at least from the perspective of the latter. Featuring nine artists, mostly young and living in the Bay Area, it's decidedly low-brow, tightly focused, and a lot of fun.
Isabel Samaras paints events in the lives of TV and movie starts onto TV trays, including a portrait of Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin, around whose heads are painted these words: "Sammy suddenly realized what others had known all along -- Dean had been dead for years."
Artists used to depict stories from the Bible. Now they retell the stories they learn on TV. Go figure.

Dave Eggers
SF Weekly
July 31, 1996