John Parot once introduced himself to me at the MCA. It was one of the first weekends for the museum’s Andy Warhol exhibit, the BF and I walked in and John came right up to us, said he was Chicago’s foremost expert on Warhol history, and proceeded to walk us through the gallery. His humor, energy and sassy arrogance notwithstading, the funny part was that he and I had already met, several times, he’d just forgotten. He’s the kind of gay a little oblivious to his surroundings that’s constantly creating outlandish scenarios in his head while others are talking, and then interjecting said unrelated scenario into the conversation, inevitably leading to uproarious group laughter.
*From John Parot’s Soft Prison
I’d be less willing to dish personal deets about a former-Chicagoan (now LA) and cutie artist friend, but he’s been holed up in nowhere land and the reason has finally surfaced. He’ll be a contestant on Bravo’s new reality show “Work of Art.” From the website: “Work of Art: The Next Great Artist will bring together fourteen aspiring artists to compete for a solo show at a nationally recognized museum and a generous cash prize. In each episode, contestants are faced with the challenge of creating unique pieces in a variety of mediums such as painting, sculpture, photography, collage and industrial design. Completed works of art will be appraised by our panel of top art world figures alongside a new celebrated guest judge every week.”
Sooooooo I’m thinking John could take over. He always did.
Below, John made the animations for Logan Lynn‘s music video to “Bottom Your Way to the Top,” filmed at Chicago’s Touche.
