Beautiful Losers Brings Out the DIY Art Love at SXSW Film Festival

A Documentary Directed by Aaron Rose and co-directed by Joshua Leonard - Premier on Day 2 of SXSW, Austin, TX March 9, 2008. Beautiful Losers, a documentary based on the book by Aaron Rose of the same name, takes a look at the lives and works Jo Jackson, Chris Johanson, Geoff McFetridge, Barry McGee, Stephen Powers II, Mike Mills, Margaret Kilgallen and other artists most famous for being self-taught or DIY-ers. Before the movie started, Rose summed up the premise for the audience perfectly, "This film is also about growing up. Start from nothing, with no real plan, no direction, and build a whole world for yourself and for your friends." The sincerity in his voice was unmistakable.

Beautiful Losers at times seemed to struggle deciding whether or not to tell the stories chronologically or topically. So there are places where the film seems disjointed, but then comes back around to pick up the thread it left behind in another profile. Each of the artist's stories has its own strength and brings out not only the character of their work, but also their personality. Particularly moving are the sections of the film about the late Margaret Kilgallen (1967-2001), wife and collaborator of Barry McGee. Her scenes radiate off the screen and seem almost tranquil compared to the occasionally dark and gritty environment the rest of the film can exude. When she looks full on into the camera, the audience can't help but be captivated by her gaze. Watching her paint was equally mesmerizing. One of the very best parts of the film was when she talked about the fallicy of seeking perfection in art.

Kilgallen said, for art21, on PBS.com, "I like things that are handmade and I like to see people's hand in the world, anywhere in the world; it doesn't matter to me where it is. And in my own work, I do everything by hand. I don't project or use anything mechanical, because even though I do spend a lot of time trying to perfect my line work and my hand, my hand will always be imperfect because it's human. And I think it's the part that's off that's interesting, that even if I'm doing really big letters and I spend a lot of time going over the line and over the line and trying to make it straight, I'll never be able to make it straight. From a distance it might look straight, but when you get close up, you can always see the line waver. And I think that's where the beauty is." (http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/kilgallen/index.html)

The question and answer session from Aaron Rose reinforced the "you can really go out and do this" feeling that pervaded the film. When Rose took the stage, he brought Lenny Mesina, Beautiful Losers' Editor with him to answer questions. Rose immediately looked more comfortable by not having to stand by himself, like a kid giving a presentation at the front of the class.

If the audience took away nothing else from the film that day, we took away the idea that we could start now, with whatever we had on hand at this moment, to make our mark on the world. Rose and Mesina said it best during the wrap up of the Q&A session:

What is your advice to the next generation starting out?

Aaron: Have shows in your garage. Invite your friends. Make magazines. Don't think you have to live in New York City or Los Angeles to start your career in art, either. Self-taught artists Chandra Michaels (search for her on here on Associated Content or on Lucire.com) and Darla Teagarden (she has a page on Myspace) are both making their mark in the art world from Texas. Neko Linda (find her on TheDigitalArtist.com), from Birmingham, Alabama, another self-taught digital artist, makes hauntingly playful, (or should that be playfully haunting?) works of art, starting with a flatbed scanner. It doesn't matter what you start with. Just start now.

Beautiful Losers is beautifully inspiring, as it was surely meant to be. Audience members left the aisles with huge smiles on their faces and you could tell by the look in their eyes, they were looking for something to make.