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CULTURE
HUFFINGTON
03.09.14
4. MACAULAY CULKIN
FROM LEFT: GARY MILLER/FILMMAGIC/GETTY IMAGES; RAYMOND BOYD/GETTY IMAGES
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS: Making the kind of
art a grown up Kevin McAllister nursed on
millions of dollars would make. For instance,
this painting of E.T., Waldo and the devil at
a Korn concert. And, obviously, his “pizzathemed Velvet Underground cover band,” the
Pizza Underground.
LOWLIGHTS: Drawing in audiences due to
curiosity, but not being able to keep them.
RECEPTION: “Gimmick’ is too strong a term,”
says Brad Pfeifer, 31, a Bushwick musician.” (From
a NY Post review of a Pizza Underground show).
GOODWILL-OMETER: There’s arguably no
harsher critic than a 31-year-old Bushwick
musician. Based on Brad’s lukewarm review,
aka high praise, Macaulay Culkin still has
goodwill to spare.
5. JAY-Z
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS: Getting a bunch of art
world luminaries, including Marina Abramovic,
into a gallery for a six-hour rap marathon for his
music video Picasso Baby.
LOWLIGHTS: Swiping the marathon concept
from... Marina Abramovic. Offering a vague
reason for his guest list. If he really wanted
to close the gap between the “haves and the
have nots,” why stage a supersecret inviteonly party for the cool kids?
RECEPTION: Romancing the art world had the
accidental effect of exposing its flaws. “The
discussion [inside] might be the best part of
the enterprise,” wrote a Vulture commenter.
“You can see people who are really smart about
this stuff getting a little flummoxed. Don’t
want to get taken in by a hustle, but don’t
want to miss something cool and interesting
either. It’s a legitimate dilemma when you let
a new element like Jay Z in.”
GOODWILL-OMETER: If immunity exists
in Franco’s paradigm, Jay-Z has it.