Killing off Greta Thunberg and Dolly Parton? The artist creating fake obituaries of cultural stars

Published

1 year ago

February 26, 2023

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The blown-up newspaper pages displayed through the windows of an otherwise sparse, all-white gallery space in London’s busy Mayfair district stop you in your tracks.

“Greta Thunberg, who has died aged 19, enjoyed a meteoric career as a climate activist,” begins one, the text surrounding a photograph of the young campaigner speaking into a mic; on the wall facing her is Formula 1 star Lewis Hamilton, one hand on heart, the other held aloft in a triumphant fist. “Sir Lewis Hamilton, who has died aged 38, was the greatest British racing driver…”

Dolly Parton, Grace Jones, Sadhguru, Marc Almond and David Hammons are also immortalised. The text is there in black and white, past tense, matter-of-fact, next to images of their instantly recognisable faces.

Like the horrible moment you see your favourite celebrity trending on Twitter for no apparent reason, the incredibly real-seeming works evoke a panicked double-take. But don’t worry – these obituaries are in fact hypothetical, the latest works by artist Adam McEwen, featured in his first solo exhibition in London.

The great equaliser, death is one of art’s most prolific subjects – “the biggest subject”, McEwen says – but forecasting the inevitable so intricately and so specifically for very real, very much alive human beings, makes these faux newspaper articles rather uncanny.

While some might consider the works morbid or even distasteful, McEwen sees them as celebratory, though not uncritical. Similar to the introduction these subjects might get should they appear on Desert Island Discs or This Is Your Life, they are warts-and-all markers of a life well lived; a lifetime of experiences and personal qualities distilled into roughly 1,400 words.

The works are homages to “people I love”, McEwen tells Sky News. What links Parton, Thunberg, Lewis and the other figures featured is a thread of “tension”, he says, or triumph over adversity; they have played by their own rules and won.

“These people are demonstrations that despite it appearing life is very difficult – if not impossible – to negotiate, you in fact have more choices and freedom than you realise.” McEwen points to Parton, a performer who has written thousands of songs and who has revelled, according to his artwork, in “subverting expectations about large-breasted, big-haired women” from the American South.

“You look at the story of Dolly Parton and she demonstrates it. And Lewis Hamilton, let’s say; [it was] almost impossible to be a young black man who wants to be a Formula One driver, if not impossible. But he shows it is possible.”

Thunberg’s rapid rise from unknown schoolgirl to the world’s most famous environmental activist is one that fascinates McEwen. “Apart from her youth and her conviction,” he writes in her fake obit, “her ability to strike a chord lay in the power and simplicity of her message: older generations had left the young to suffer the consequences of their consumption. Everyone knew it; now the young weren’t going to let them ignore it anymore.”

From Malcolm McLaren to Kate Moss, Rod Stewart and Bill Clinton

As a young artist in the 1990s, McEwen subsidised his passion working part-time as an obituary writer for the Daily Telegraph. The idea to turn the form into art was born from a group show he was taking part in in 2000. “Everyone was given a Vivienne Westwood muslin shirt, a straitjacket, and we were told to do whatever we wanted. I decided to write Malcolm McLaren’s obituary… it was a homage to Malcolm and it had a kind of dark, slightly punk sensibility that made sense.”

Further fake obituaries to stars and notable figures followed, featuring everyone from Nicole Kidman, Kate Moss and Macaulay Culkin to Rod Stewart, Jeff Koons and Bill Clinton. Some would read differently now should he be starting afresh in 2023.

“They won’t be updated,” says McEwen. “Also, they function differently later. Let’s say, Macaulay Culkin, the actor. In 2004 he had a certain stature and a certain story; he was in Home Alone… 20 years later, we see it from a different position… You see this artwork now and it’s like, that’s not how I think about Macaulay Culkin anymore.”

McLaren, the former Sex Pistols manager and partner of Westwood, later came to hear about his own obit. “I met him once and told him,” McEwen says. “He was sort of initially nonplussed and then he laughed.”

He says Koons was also aware of his. “It’s a funny relationship, but it’s not… people have said to me, why don’t you do Trump? Kill him! They’re not really getting the point.”

‘This isn’t a morbid wish – death is a fact’

McEwen says he doesn’t worry about how his subjects might react to seeing the stories of their lives told through their made-up deaths. “The only thing I know about Greta Thunberg, for real… the only thing I know for sure about Nicole Kidman or Bill Clinton, is that they are going to die. I’m not using it as a morbid wish. It’s a fact. For me also, I’m going to die.

“I don’t think [it’s] upsetting. Apart from anything else, these things exist in filing cabinets, or in digital filing cabinets, already for famous people. For Dolly Parton, there are already obituaries written for her, because they have to be. All I’m doing is appropriating something that’s already there.”

When he worked for the Telegraph, McEwen wrote obituaries in reaction to sudden deaths – including for John F Kennedy Jr in 1999, when he died alongside his wife and sister-in-law in a private plane crash – as well as planned pieces.

Just like a real newspaper article, there may be errors to look out for in his artwork, he says. “Typos, sure. Maybe factual errors. I mean, exactly like a newspaper. It’s 6pm. It’s got to go to press. We do the best [we can] and then the next morning, ‘Oh f***, we’ve missed that typo’. It’s the same. I’ve done them when they go, ‘in 19XX…’ and I was going to find the date [but forgot], and then it’s done and it’s in the exhibition. ‘Damn, I didn’t see that.’ But it doesn’t matter, because it’s the same. It’s all part of it.”

Adam McEwen’s exhibition of fake obituaries dedicated to living celebrities is showing at Gagosian’s Davies Street gallery in London until 11 March

Entertainment

Tom Brady vows to be ‘better parent’ after Netflix roast tore into divorce

Published

18 hours ago

May 16, 2024

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Tom Brady vows to be 'better parent' after Netflix roast tore into divorce

Tom Brady has promised to be “a better parent” after a Netflix comedy special poked fun at his divorce.

The seven-time Super Bowl champion appeared on The Roast Of Tom Brady, where comedians like Kevin Hart tore into his split from Gisele Bundchen in 2022 after 13 years.

While the 46-year-old said he “loved when the jokes were about me,” Brady told The Pivot Podcast that he “didn’t like the way it affected my kids”.

“It’s the hardest part about, like the bittersweet aspect of when you do something that you think is one way and then all of a sudden you realise ‘I wouldn’t do that again’ because of the way that it affected, actually, the people I care about the most in the world,” he said.

“It makes you, in some ways, a better parent going through it ’cause again sometimes you are naive. You don’t know, or you get a little like, ‘oh shit’.”

Brady has two children – Benjamin, 14, and Vivian, 11 – with Bundchen. He also is a father to a third child, 16-year-old John, with actress Bridget Moynahan, who he dated until 2006.

‘Single life is what you deserve’

Hart, who hosted the Netflix special, kicked off proceedings by referencing their split, saying: “Single life is what you deserve because you had no choice.

“Gisele gave you an ultimatum. Gisele said ‘you retire or we’re done’. That’s what she said to you, Tom. ‘You retire, or we’re done’.

“Let me tell you something. When you got a chance to go eight, nine, and all it will cost is your wife and your kids, you gotta do what the f*** you gotta do.”

Nikki Glaser also fired jabs at Brady’s divorce, saying: “Five-time Super Bowl MVP, most career wins, most career touchdowns.

“You have seven rings. Well, eight, now that Gisele gave hers back.”

‘Roast taught me a good lesson’

Brady also told the podcast that as a parent, “you just don’t see the full picture all the time,” and added the roast taught him “a good lesson”.

“I’m going to be a better parent as I go forward because of it,” he added. “And at the same time, I’m happy everyone who was there had a lot of fun.”

Speaking on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, David Beckham shared he texted Brady to check on him after the roast aired, saying: “I know Tom well and I must admit, I did fire him a message just to check if he was okay.

“He’s more than okay, but yeah, it was hard to watch.”

Brady, who is widely regarded as the greatest quarterback ever, played 20 regular seasons with the New England Patriots and three regular seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, during which he won the Super Bowl seven times and was a three-time runner up.

Entertainment

Stars say Kevin Spacey should return to acting after ‘seven years of exile’

Published

1 day ago

May 16, 2024

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Stars say Kevin Spacey should return to acting after 'seven years of exile'

Hollywood stars have begun campaigning for Kevin Spacey to resume his acting career “after seven years of exile”.

Sharon Stone, Liam Neeson and Stephen Fry are among the names speaking up for the Oscar-winner following the release of a Channel 4 documentary levelling fresh allegations against 64-year-old Spacey, which he denies.

The Oscar-winning actor was one of Hollywood’s biggest names when allegations of sexual misconduct were made in 2017, leading Netflix to cut all ties with him at the height of his House of Cards fame.

Despite being acquitted of numerous sexual offences after a trial in London, and winning a US civil lawsuit in which he was accused of making an unwanted sexual advance, Spacey said he still feels ostracised from the industry.

Basic Instinct star Stone told the Telegraph: “I can’t wait to see Kevin back at work. He is a genius. He is so elegant and fun, generous to a fault, and knows more about our craft than most of us ever will.”

The 66-year-old said it was clear aspiring actors had “wanted and want to be around him”.

She added: “It’s terrible that they are blaming him for not being able to come to terms with themselves for using him and negotiating with themselves because they didn’t get their secret agendas.”

Taken and Star Wars actor Neeson, 71, told the paper: “Kevin is a good man and a man of character. Personally speaking, our industry needs him and misses him greatly.”

British actor and writer Fry said Spacey had been both “clumsy and inappropriate” on many occasions, but to “devote a whole documentary to accusations that simply do not add up to crimes… how can that be considered proportionate and justified?”

The 66-year-old said Spacey’s reputation had been “wrecked”, adding: “Surely it is wrong to continue to batter a reputation on the strength of assertion and rhetoric rather than evidence and proof?

“Unless I’m missing something, I think he has paid the price.”

A spokesperson for Channel 4 said: “Spacey Unmasked is an important film exploring the balance of power and inappropriate behaviour in a work environment, aiming to give a voice to those who have previously been unable to speak out.”

Spacey won two Academy Awards as best supporting actor for The Usual Suspects in 1996 and best actor in 2000 for American Beauty, which also scored him a BAFTA for leading actor.

Last year, Spacey was found not guilty by a jury of nine sexual offences alleged by four men between 2001 and 2013 after a trial in London.

He also won a US civil lawsuit in October 2022, after being accused of an unwanted sexual advance at a party in 1986.

Spacey says he has struggled to get work despite his acquittals, branding his experience a “life sentence”.

Entertainment

Rust weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez appeals against conviction over fatal shooting on Alec Baldwin film set

Published

2 days ago

May 15, 2024

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Rust weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez appeals against conviction over fatal shooting on Alec Baldwin film set

The weapons supervisor for the Western film Rust is appealing against her conviction for involuntary manslaughter over the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on set, according to court documents.

Hannah Gutierrez was jailed in April after being found guilty by jurors following a trial in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in the US.

She was in charge of weapons during the production of the film in October 2021, when a Colt 45 revolver fired by actor and co-producer Alec Baldwin went off during a rehearsal.

Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died, while director Joel Souza was injured.

A defence lawyer for Gutierrez, who is serving an 18-month sentence at a prison for women in New Mexico, filed a shortly worded appeal notice on Monday.

Her legal team has 30 days to submit detailed arguments. They previously requested a new trial following the verdict.

Gutierrez’s trial was told she unwittingly brought live ammunition to the set, where it was expressly prohibited, and failed to follow basic gun safety protocols.

During her sentencing hearing, she told the court she had tried to do her best while working on the production, despite not having “proper time, resources and staffing”.

Alec Baldwin case latest

Baldwin, who was a producer for the film as well as its star, has also pleaded not guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter.

He maintains he pulled back the gun’s hammer – but not the trigger – before it fired, and is set to face trial in July. He denies any wrongdoing.

The 66-year-old was originally charged in January 2023, more than a year after the shooting, but those charges were dropped a few months later. He was charged again in January this year.

His legal team has filed a motion calling for the charges to be dropped. Prosecutors responded with a 32-page document claiming that footage of the star on set shows he had “absolutely no control of his own emotions” and “no concern for how his conduct” affected those around him.

Assistant director David Halls, who also faced charges, entered a plea bargain for negligent use of a deadly weapon last year, receiving a six-month suspended sentence.

Filming of Rust resumed last year in Montana – with Baldwin reprising his role as the main character – after an agreement made Ms Hutchins’s widower an executive producer.