Brendan O'Connell (artist)
{{Short description|American painter}}
{{Other people|Brendan O'Connell}}
{{Infobox artist
| name = Brendan O'Connell
| image = Brendan O'Connell.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_date = September 18, 1968
| birth_place = New York City
| nationality = American
| education = Emory University
| alma_mater =
| known_for = Walmart series, art of the everyday,
| notable_works = Snacks, Bitcoin Jesus
| style =
| movement = Expressionism,Pop
| children = 2
| partner = Heather Rossitto
| elected =
| patrons =
| memorials =
| website = {{URL|http://www.brendanoconnell.com/}}
}}
Brendan O'Connell (September 18, 1968, New York City) is a contemporary American artist known for his paintings of Walmart interiors.{{cite magazine|last=Orlean|first=Susan |author-link=Susan Orlean |date=February 11, 2013|title=Walart: A career epiphany in a supermarket|magazine=The New Yorker|page=46|url=https://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/02/11/130211fa_fact_orlean}}{{cite news|url=https://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2010/09/26/painter_brendan_oconnell_turns_walmart_to_wall_art/|title=He's got his eyes on the aisles|last=McQuaid|first=Cate|date=September 26, 2010|work=The Boston Globe|accessdate=28 February 2013}}{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/04/21/172898107/why-an-artist-finds-transcendence-in-the-aisles-of-walmart|title=Spirituality And Sprite, Aisle 1? What An Artist Sees In Wal-Mart |last=Godoy|first=Maria|date=21 April 2013|publisher=NPR|accessdate=June 17, 2013}} He was nicknamed America's "Brand Name Painter" by Time because of his impressionist paintings of America's most popular brands.{{cite magazine|last=Rothman|first=Lily|date=January 16, 2014|title=Brand Name Painter|magazine=Time|page=46|url=https://time.com/916/brand-name-painter/}}
Early life
O'Connell was born in New York City and raised in Tucker, Georgia. After graduating from Emory University in 1990 with degrees in philosophy and Spanish literature,{{cite news|url=http://www.countytimes.com/articles/2008/04/17/community_news/19492908.txt?viewmode=default|title=Cornwall Art To Hit China |last=Barnes|first=Nancy|date=April 17, 2008|work=Litchfield County Times|accessdate=February 28, 2013}} he moved back home where he worked in a grocery store. He later moved to Paris to write a novel.
Career
Without formal art training, O'Connell began painting at the age of 22. He supported himself in Paris as a sidewalk caricaturist while working on abstract paintings. According to O'Connell, influences on his painting were French Abstract-Expressionist artists including Pierre Soulages and Nicolas de Staël.
O'Connell became known for his large impressionist paintings of the aisles of Walmart supermarkets. The initial works were created from photographs of people shopping at Walmart. According to art critic Joe Fyfe, the works are an "idiosyncratic" combination of "kitschy decorative art, almost tourist painting" and high art. O'Connell's canvasses have been exhibited in New York; Boston; Atlanta, Georgia; Turin, Italy and Shanghai, China.
National interest in Brendan began after he was profiled by Susan Orlean in The New Yorker. This was followed by his first television appearance on The Colbert Report.{{cite web|url=http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/424441/march-06-2013/brendan-o-connell/|title=Brendan O'Connell|date=March 6, 2013|work=The Colbert Report|accessdate=March 6, 2013|location=New York City}} Brendan continues to do live paintings for the local media in Walmarts around the United States, garnering him the nickname the "Warhol of Walmart".{{cite journal|last=Bethea|first=Charles |author-link=Charles Bethea |date=October 30, 2013|title=Watching the Warhol of Walmart|journal=Atlanta|page=1|url=http://www.atlantamagazine.com/news-culture-articles/brendan-o-connell-the-warhol-of-walmart/}}
He was the subject the 2013 documentary and Vimeo staff pick, "Blocking the Bread Aisle" by Julien Lasseur and Jamie Thalman.{{cite journal|last=Price-Waldman|first=Sam|date=December 6, 2013|title=The Hidden Beauty of a Walmart Store.|journal=The Atlantic|page=1|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/video/archive/2013/12/the-hidden-beauty-of-a-walmart-store/282111/|access-date=March 5, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160206053947/http://www.theatlantic.com/video/archive/2013/12/the-hidden-beauty-of-a-walmart-store/282111/|archive-date=February 6, 2016|url-status=dead}} And was one of three artists interviewed on the Colbert Report.[https://web.archive.org/web/20151030002506/http://www.cc.com/video-clips/25fidf/the-colbert-report-brendan-o-connell] The Colbert Report
=Everyartist.me=
In 2012, O'Connell helped organize the Wal-Art Project in which more than 8,400 children gathered in a stadium in Bentonville, Arkansas, the location of Walmart's headquarters, to display their artwork.{{cite news|url=http://finances.msn.com/saving-money-ideas/237d3af1-714b-40aa-86e6-691b99497980|title=Artist finds inspiration at Wal-Mart|date=25 April 2013|publisher=MSN Money|accessdate=17 June 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130503003949/http://finances.msn.com/saving-money-ideas/237d3af1-714b-40aa-86e6-691b99497980|archivedate=3 May 2013}} According to O'Connell, the purpose of the project was to inspire the artistic creativity of everyone.{{cite web|url=http://tedxatlanta.com/speakers/05072013-reasons/brendan-oconnell/|title=Brendan O'Connell|date=7 May 2013|work=Speaker|publisher=TED|accessdate=17 June 2013|location=Atlanta|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130818131435/http://tedxatlanta.com/speakers/05072013-reasons/brendan-oconnell/|archive-date=18 August 2013|url-status=dead}} Brendan used the Wal-Art Project as a springboard for Everyartist.me, a social enterprise that creates the annual Everyartist Live! art event. In November 2013, Brendan organized a national, collaborative painting event with 230,000 children across 46 states with Everyartist Live!{{cite journal|last=Watson|first=Jaye|date=April 26, 2014|title=Atlanta native paints Walmart masterpieces.|journal=WXIA|page=1|url=http://www.11alive.com/story/news/2014/04/25/atlanta-native-paints-walmart-masterpieces/8141285/}}
Awards and grants
- [https://pittsburghfoundation.org/demarest Eben Demarest Trust] grant 2003 [http://pittsburghfoundation.org/sites/default/files/Eben%20Demarest%20Trust%20Income%20Beneficiaries.pdf Eben Demarest Trust Income Beneficiaries] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150612230511/http://pittsburghfoundation.org/sites/default/files/Eben%20Demarest%20Trust%20Income%20Beneficiaries.pdf |date=2015-06-12 }}, http://pittsburghfoundation.org, retrieved 6-17-2013
- S.D. Rubin Foundation 2012{{cite web|url=http://www.sdrubin.org/grants/view/993|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130618033006/http://www.sdrubin.org/grants/view/993|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 June 2013|title=Wal-Art|year=2012|work=Grants: Art and Culture|publisher=SD Rubin Foundation|accessdate=17 June 2013}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- Brendan O'Connell's [https://web.archive.org/web/20151211224504/http://tedxatlanta.com/videos/05072013-reasons/brendan-oconnell/ TED Talk], Atlanta TED, 7 May 2013
- [http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/424441/march-06-2013/brendan-o-connell Appearance] on the Colbert Report, 6 March 2013
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Category:American Impressionist painters
Category:Painters from New York (state)
Category:People from Tucker, Georgia
Category:20th-century American painters
Category:American male painters