What flamboyant media tycoon faces the possibility of unpleasant revelations regarding his threesomes, which included an ex-wife and a strapped-on other woman, in a forthcoming biography?
Art of the game show
There are few people in New York more controversial than painter Mark Kostabi. If Andy Warhol was “the sphinx without a riddle,” as Truman Capote put it (stealing from Oscar Wilde), Kostabi is the sphinx with a money-belt around his loins, the consummate painter-businessman.
Indeed, for many years banners were tacked up at his Kostabi World studio on Broome Street with expressions like “Lots of cash for commercial trash” and “All’s well that ends in a sale.” Yet, like Warhol, he’s never failed to show his sense of humor, even mocking the future prices of his own paintings that he was putting up for purchase.
Hence, Dope Peddler looked forward to attending a taping of his game show, “Inside Kostabi: Name That Painting,” which appears on Time Warner Cable’s Public Access Channel 34 on Wednesday nights at 9:30. We weren’t disappointed. In fact, we can honestly say that we haven’t often had so much fun and would strongly recommend it to anyone who can finagle an invitation.
The purpose of the show is to come up with names for his studio’s renderings. Contestants and judges vote on names for these canvasses, and the audience decides on what each will be called. Wearing a velvet suit, Kostabi emcees. Throughout the show, Kostabi hands out money, tosses off wisecracks and cues up his not untalented live band. Is he an artist? No matter. He’s one of New York’s most engaging personalities.
Buck Shot
An influential trader tells us that the dollar is headed for a fall—and more likely sooner than later.
Congratulations
Our hearty congratulations to our own Jennifer Merin. As one of the hosts of the Women Film Critics Circle, Merin gave a lifetime achievement award to actress Ruby Dee while also honoring the work of young talents like Nine Lives director Rodrigo Garcia—the latter one of the many important directors she’s interviewed of late in these pages.
