Clown School

The amusing "Parody of Light" lampoons Thomas Kinkade.

Comments (0) By Kelly Klaasmeyer Wednesday, Feb 2 2011

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Patricia Hernandez paints clowns on top of pictures torn from a Thomas Kinkade book.

The clowns appear in Kinkade's landscapes, seascapes and cityscapes.

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DiverseWorks

4102 Fannin St., Suite 200
Houston, TX 77004

Category: Community Venues

Region: Downtown/ Midtown

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"Patricia Hernandez: Parody of Light"

Through February 26. Going out of Business Sale: noon to 6 p.m., Saturday, February 26.

DiverseWorks Art Space, 1117 East Fwy., 713-223-8346.

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All lifestyle brands try to sell the purchaser some vision of who they want to be and how they want to live. Kinkade's empire may be in decline and we may snicker at his work, his crass marketing and his personal hypocrisy, but it is estimated that one out of 20 American homes has something "Kinkade" within it. There has to be a reason why, and it's not just — er, not only — bad taste. Is a yearning for simpler times, for yesteryear, small-town community, what helped make Kinkade's imagery so appealing to his customers? (Strangely, the act of collecting it seems to create a sense of community in itself.)

Hernandez's show is ambitious and amusing, and she raises questions about art, originality, marketing and ethics. But at the heart of it, and at the heart of Kinkade's success, is an America longing for something sincere and authentic. And they're trying to buy it at the mall.