Thomas Kinkade Paintings Invaded
War on Kinkade
Read how the work by the “Painter of Light” has been transformed into paintings of light sabers.
Thomas Kinkade has been cherished and derided by buyers, galleries, and other artists.
The people who love his work, are more like addicts. Some have bought his hype and handed over thousands of dollars for his “paintings.” These beloved paintings are, in all but a very few cases, are giclee prints. Some have had highlights added to them by a staff member. Higher priced pieces had the highlights added by Kinkade himself.
The imagery and the assembly line process both brought criticism from the art world, despite his public appeal.
Artists have been twisting the works of other artists for hundreds of years. Often this is said to be an expression of how much they respect the original painting and artist’s skill.
Jeff Bennett is one artist who found a way to mash up one of his least favorite artists with a favorite film series: Star Wars. He titles his series, War on Kinkade.
At the time of his death in 2012, Thomas Kinkade was the most collected living artist in America, with an estimated one in 20 homes owning one of his original paintings. Apparently this made Darth Vader very jealous and angry, so he sicked his automaton army on Kinkade’s cutesy compositions.
Let’s just say we don’t think Luke Skywalker will be coming to Kinkade’s rescue any time soon. Not even in a galaxy far, far away.
Original article on Fast Co Design
Paintings by Jeff Bennett
Read the entire article and see more of Bennett’s adaptations here.
