Without wanting to belittle the personal
experience of being with Brian, the screen version was definitely more
intriguing. It turns out that Brian, a friend of the artist Paul McCarthy
(that’s something in itself when you think about it), was roped in to play a
part in one of McCarthy’s movies. Originally, Brian told us, he was supposed to
play the part of the critic (not a great part as it involved smelling
McCarthy’s backside at a critical point in the film) but arrived late and ended
up as the talk show host.
We saw the resulting 1995 McCarthy film 'Painter' at the
Quai Branly in Paris in the Masters of Chaos exhibition. As we watched up
popped a familiar face, albeit mostly concealed by a bulbous rubber nose
(Butler recalls McCarthy pulling off his own false nose and gluing it onto his -Butler's - face before he had a chance to give an opinion as to whether or not
this seemed like a good idea). If you want to see Brian Butler in ‘Painter’ it
is still viewable on YouTube. He turns up toward the end. The set and
all the props for ‘Painter’ are now part of the Rubell Family Collection in
Miami.
Later: Then in Auckland at St Paul St and we stumble in to Sean Grattan's movie HADHAD which we had seen in LA. And who's up there on the screen as we enter? Kate Butler (Brian's wife) who is one of its stars. Snap.
Images: Brian Butler (left of screen) in
Paul McCarthy’s film 'Painter'
