300 Paintings

Ed Fringe 24

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Ed Fringe 24 -

Sydney artist and ex-comedian Sam Kissajukian is taking us through his artistic journey, a journey which, though very brief, has already seen him go through many of art's greatest periods. He’s done cubism, modern art, contemporary art, a blue period, and some abstract expressionism for good measure. 

After giving up stand up, Kissajukian decided to rent out an old cake factory and use it as an artists studio, a studio he promptly filled with canvas after canvas. Small ones, big ones, colourful ones, monochrome ones, he didn’t stop to think too much about how he was able to be so productive in such a short space but there’s a sense that he was enjoying his madcap spurt of artistic flourishes. Kissajukian’s experience as a stand-up is deftly employed as he recalls this period; he is both funny and charming as he clicks through his powerpoint background, highlighting his artwork that soon turns from paintings, to miniature models, to a mesmeric story about his attempt at being an inventor.

Underpinning all this is the oncoming realisation that what Kissajukian was experiencing wasn’t his divine ordaining as the new Banksy but the manic part of a bipolar episode. After five months of relentless art making, Kissajukian fell into an equally long depression.

300 Paintings raises interesting questions about the relationship between mental health and art, and includes a truly spectacular segment about Kissajukian’s attempt to create a durational, live-art, actually funded, business plan. Centred around the elaborate sale of bleached t-shirts, the ‘business’ spirals out of control a la Nathan For You, in a story reminiscent of artist Raivo Puusemp’s stint as mayor of Rosendale in the mid-70s, when he blended real-life with his artistic practice and successfully worked for the town. The blending of real-life and artistic practice is one of the central concerns of 300 Paintings, especially when the ‘real-life’ part of it is going through a, then unrecognised, mental health crisis.

The overarching themes of 300 Paintings go over well-trodden ground and the stand-up form sometimes puts a glib spin on the more philosophical arguments, but there’s no doubting that this is a very funny, heartfelt and tightly crafted hour, woven around a captivating personal story from a truly compelling performer.

300 Paintings is on at 10:55 until the 26th August (not 12th or 19th) at Summerhall - tickets here.

FOUR STARS

Photo by David Li