Pedro Carvajal's documentary about Ron English, the artist known for his illegal billboard art, was a great foray into this talent's career. The documentary depicts two segments of Ron's art: the first, focused more on political and anti-corporate messages formed as art, and plastered onto billboards, and the second, where this art is moved into the medium of canvas and oil paint and gains accreditation through gallery showings.
The first portion was certainly the more amusing; anyone who's been irritated at a large, blaring billboard shouting an unagreeable message will take to Ron's "liberation" of this medium. The billboards he creates are certainly of a liberal bent (anti-Bush, anti-war, anti-tobacco), but are more than just scrawled words on a sheet of paper; this is real art that Ron spent time creating and displaying. Ron's reasoning was that he wanted his art to be public; sure, the politics behind it are motivating too, but he claimed having his work locked up in a gallery or in someone's home is not what he wanted.
Interesting, then, to note the latter half of the film, which is Ron's foray into oil paint. His paintings are photographic and realistic, but depict unusual circumstances (kids smoking with KISS-style face paint, Homer Simpson urinating on a campfire while others look on). But his style is unique, and his skill is great, evidenced by the popularity of the gallery showings that are displayed in the film.
Has Ron given up billboards? The film leaves you with a sense that the answer is "no". Sure, Ron's art has matured beyond the public and illegal to more traditional forms, but one can see from the documentary that Ron seems happiest when he's creating, or installing, his billboard art for the masses.
Overall rating: 7.0/10.0
Details
Runtime: 78m
Country: USA
Language: English
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