LA turns to Fort Worth portraitist for ‘the art of jackass’

Sarah Green to unveil her collection October 14, 2010 at the Thought Gallery

10.05.2010 – Fort Worth artist Sarah Green’s portraits hang in the homes of Van Cliburn, Kirk Douglas, the family of late President Gerald Ford ... and her show, “the art of jackass", is part of the LA scene as “jackass 3D” opens October 15th in theaters nationwide.

Green’s show opens with a 9 p.m. reception October 14th at The Thought Gallery in Los Angeles at 1621 Cahuenga Blvd.
How did Green go from former presidents to the disgusting, dangerous, hilarious MTV phenomenon that caught on, caught flak from irate parents and then was made into three movies?

Says Green, “‘jackass’ has artistic merit: If we say that art can spur social change, alter our perspective, influence our society, then ‘jackass’ is a successful artistic venture. It's a social and media phenomenon that has swept the world over the past decade. ‘jackass’ has broken down media and societal taboos: Graphic displays of male nudity, physical injury, vomiting and defecating are shown in a spirit of gleeful tomfoolery and complete, breathtaking honesty, without malice.”

A few of the portraits of will even be in “jackass 3D”.
Green has created portraits of Johnny Knoxville, Jeff Tremaine, Steve-O, Rick Kosick and the rest, along with an iconic image of a finger dipped in -- you’ll have to go to her website, www.sarahgreenart.com and see for yourself.

“All the guys are gifted creatives of some sort,” says Green. “They're very talented musicians, actors, visual artists, athletes, writers. I can relate to them.”

She says she was given complete freedom to paint “the guys” any way she chose. “They're not hung up about their images, and collectively, they have a wonderful sense of the absurd, which they allowed me to utilize fully in each portrait.”

The back story
Sarah Green, 51, was born in London, England, and received a bachelor of arts degree in vocal performance from Texas Wesleyan University in 1984. She learned figurative drawing from her father, Christopher Hill, and has studied intaglio etching and other techniques, as well as photography with well-known artists. She was a commercial artist from age 15, and that work included several years with the Texas Refinery Corp. and the Pate family of Fort Worth. Says Green, “Many people find it interesting that I am a 51-year- old mom who is friendly with the ‘jackass’ boys. The guys are very respectful of moms and they think I am a ‘nice lady.’ They usually don't swear in front of me too much.”