Everyone Will Be Famous for 15 Minutes
“I never know what I'm going to put on the canvas. The canvas paints itself. I'm just the middleman.” - Peter Max
“America is the canvas, throw up as much paint as you can. We are just the middlemen.” - Ed Reif
The Power of Myth
The myth that real artists don’t make money is just that—a myth. Pop artist Peter Max is a testament to this. Celebrating his seventy-something birthday this week aboard the Celebrity Solstice, Max defies this outdated notion with every brushstroke.
Optimistic, generous, and a bit naive, Peter Max embodies the German-American Dreamer. He isn’t your typical industry standard; he’s an industrial artist, churning out cotton-candy, Art-Nouveau-ish limited editions that turn the inedible into the unspeakable, funk, and junk.
From Xerox to Infinity
The copies are better than the originals. Max, the man who mass-produced decades of art, even has Cosmic iPhone Apps. He’s got more game than Milton Bradley.
Two weeks ago, I had a conference call with Max, and I couldn’t help but recall what his friend Andy Warhol once said, “The most exciting attractions are between two opposites that never meet.” Holy cow!
Beyond the Canvas
One of the coolest things about Peter Max is that he doesn’t eat his friends—he’s a vegetarian. Noteworthy is his cow rescue—a $180,000 barter deal at a Cincinnati slaughterhouse. He also gave the Statue of Liberty an extreme makeover in 1984 with Chrysler CEO Lee Iacocca and Nancy and Ronald Reagan's backing.
Max’s paint has graced a Boeing 777 Continental fuselage, the 1999 Woodstock stage, The Beatles' Yellow Submarine album cover, and a giant mural at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. He’s been the Official Artist of five Super Bowls, five Grammy Awards, World Cup USA, The World Series, and the United Nations Earth Summit.
The Essence of American Life
“Sometimes you fantasize that people who are really up there and rich and living it up have something you don't have, and their things must be better than your things because they have more money than you. But they drink the same Coke and eat the same hot dogs and wear the same clothes and see the same TV and the same movies… You can get just as revolted as they can—you can have the same nightmares. All this is really American.” - Andy Warhol
Peter Max continues to inspire with his vibrant art and unwavering spirit, proving that sometimes, the myth of the starving artist is just another canvas waiting to be repainted.
What do you think? Ready to see the world through the vibrant lens of Peter Max?
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