ArtSlant writer, Nancy Lupo, met with David Ostrowski & Erica Eyres on the eve of their 2-person show at Fette's Gallery in Los Angeles, CA at the end of 2007.

David Ostrowski’s body of work, which he created specifically for this exhibition, was entitled How to Look at Homegrown Terror and consists of various sized oil paintings (all untitled) on either paper or cotton.  His images, which are drawn from pop culture, show people that you might think you recognize from Us Weekly even though the artist has taken concerted steps to obscure the identity of people in the images.  A second reading of his work might make you doubt such an assumption; perhaps you don’t recognize anyone after all.  It might just be that the people look like they’re famous but what you are recognizing not a specific person but more a ‘type’ i.e., the older man and the younger woman, the casually strolling family or the undressed woman posing on a bed. 

Equally related and unrelated to Eyres’s and Ostrowski’s new work is the American artist Paul Thek, who while teaching undergraduates at the Cooper Union in the 1980’s, developed a survey questionnaire that is sometimes referred to as his ‘Teaching Notes’.  Both Erica Eyres and David Ostrowski submitted to his questions.

Questions Presented to DAVID OSTROWSKI by PAUL THEK

Name: David Ostrowski aka Painter Pan

Age: 26

Place of birth: Cologne

Nationality: German

Education: Academy of Fine Arts Düsseldorf; Masters of Fine Arts Candidate 2008

Hobbies: knitting

Where do you now live? Cologne 

For how long? 62 years

What are your requirements in a friend? He must be like Robert DeNiro in Raging Bull or Sylvester Stallone in Judge Dredd

Lover? She must look like Jack Nicholson

What kind of art do you like? Picasso

Music? Chicago and Slayer

What do you read? Eva Herman “Das Eva-Prinzip“

Do you buy books? A friend of mine is a kleptomaniac. 

Records? He has an I-pod

What is your favorite color? Nazi Braun (brown)

What are your politics? I am pro- American

What do you do on a date? Knit

What is the purpose of dating? To have a nice conversation

Do you believe in premarital sex? I am a big fan of R. Kelly

What happens after death? There will be a Waterworld without Kevin Costner

Tell us about other members of your family.  My aunt is the Blair Witch

Tell us about a close friend. He is a kleptomaniac.

Tell us about someone who inspires you. Wolfgang Joop and Boch from Villeroy and Boch

Tell us about the most exciting thing you ever did. I made a child be bored.

How many rooms are there in your home? 127

Do you have your own room? No

Do you share it? No, never  

What does your room look like? Like the rooms in Schloss Neuschwanstein

On what do you sleep? On straw 

In what? Newsapapers and boxes

In what position? Fetus position

Do you take baths or showers? I wash myself in a lake

Do you use perfumes or deodorants? Echt Koelnisch Wasser 4711

What style or look do you prefer?  I like the look of Hansel from Zoolander.

Are you interested in sports? Fishing

Which? Sharks  

How often? Always when there is a shark in the Rhine River

Do you believe in abortion? No

Do your parents? Yes

What is your worst physical feature? I wear a toupee.

Your best? I am circumcised.

What annoys you most in others? Existence

What is eternity? A Perfume by Calvin Klein 

What is love?  Something Celine Dion is singing about. 

What is art?  I am not drunk enough to answer this question. 

What is a symbol?  The artist formerly known as Prince.

Who are your role models? Krystal Steal

Who is the person closest to you at the moment? Jenna Haze

What in life is your greatest source of pleasure? Wiener Schnitzel

How do you know you like someone? When I have an erection

How do you know that someone is interested in you?  Before or after I slept with them?

How do you know that you are happy, sad, nervous, bored?  Before or after I slept with them?

What is an abstraction?  Angela Merkel

What would it be like if you behaved with absolute power?  Ask Angela Merkel

Who is your favorite character in the bible?  Mel Brooks

What is your favorite character in Gone With the Wind?  Arnold Schwarzenegger

What is the most beautiful thing in the world?  Mickey Rourke

What is the purpose of art?  I have no idea

What is the most difficult thing in life for you?  To survive in the ghetto of Cologne.

Can art be useful in dealing with this difficulty?  Yes  

What is the surest way to happiness?  One night in Paris

What do you do to make yourself more attractive? I watch Nip/Tuck

How much time to spend making a piece of art?  It depends on how drunk I am.

How much time do you spend thinking about it?  26 hours  

What do you think of money?  Once you get the money, then you get the power, then you get women.

What is waste? Terminator 3

ArtSlant would like to thank David Ostrowski for his assistance in making this interview possible.

--Nancy Lupo