Update, July 31, 2010: Mystery solved! Contributor Sara Jones found an article in the June/July issue of Art in America about the Italian artist at whose exhibition I met Alice Neel. His name is Piero Gilardi.

From Joey Skaggs, editor, July 9, 2010:

An Alice Neel retrospective has been organized by White Chapel Gallery in Houston and is currently traveling in Europe. Neel (1900-1984) was a portrait painter. A portrait she painted of me in the mid 60s was recently exhibited at La Louver Gallery in Venice, CA. Peter Frank reviewed the show in Huffington Post on July 7, 2010.

Seeing the portrait again brought back memories of meeting her. It was one of those incredible encounters.

I was having an exhibition of my abstract landscape paintings in mid-town New York and decided to walk up and down 57th street visiting other galleries. I ended up in a gallery whose name I can’t recall featuring an Italian sculptor whose name I also don’t remember. The artist carved elaborate environments from giant rolls of foam and air brushed them to look realistic. They were rolls of artificial reality. One was a giant landscape hanging from the wall and draping onto the floor, simulating a creek bed. There was also a watermelon patch and a tomato garden. I found myself standing next to a little old lady (I being in my twenties and she being in her sixties, she was a little old lady to me). We both were staring at the creek and then looked at each other. She said “Why don’t we take off our shoes and walk on it. I wonder what it feels like.” She kicked off her shoes, I pulled off my cowboy boots and we stood on it together, squishing the foam under our toes. She said “I could just see them rolling this out over Vietnam.” I said, “Yeah, covering the dead bodies.” She said, “What do you do, my dear?” I said, “I’m an artist. As a matter of fact, I’m having an exhibition of my work right now just a few blocks away.” She said, “I’m an artist too! Let’s go see your work.” And we did.

She said she’d like me to pose for her, that she’d like to do a really big painting, 6 feet tall, full figure. I agreed and she asked me to pick up the stretchers and the canvas. She never reimbursed me, but I figured, okay, she’s a little old lady… And that began my friendship with Alice Neel. Although I’ve seen pictures, I haven’t seen the actual painting for decades. Somewhere along the line, not sure if by her or someone else, my last name Skaggs was spelled with a “c” instead of a “k”.

For fun I thought I’d pose with my twenty-something self…

From Joey Skaggs:

From Joey Skaggs:

The 25th Annual April Fools’ Day Parade will begin at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street at 12 noon, Thursday, April 1, 2010. Rain or shine, the parade will march down 5th Avenue to Washington Square Park for the post-parade festivities and selection of the King or Queen of Fools from the costumed marching look-alikes.

The theme for this year’s parade is “Up, Up and Away.” Led by Grand Marshall Ben Bernanke, the parade will kick off with the Where’s-the-Money Marching Band playing this year’s theme song by the Fifth Dimension “Up, Up and Away in My Beautiful Balloon.” Color commentary will be provided by Sarah Palin for her new Fox TV show “We Make It Up, You Believe It.” Thanks to a contribution by a secret donor in honor of the parade’s 25th anniversary, 10,000 red, white and blue helium balloons, each with a crisp one-dollar bill attached, will be released along the parade route.

The floats this year will be led by Richard and Mayumi Heene with their Homemade Helium Flying Saucer Float. Next will be the Northwest Airlines Flight 188 “Siesta” Cockpit Float with pilot Timothy B. Cheney and first officer Richard I. Cole napping. Then a North Korea Missile Launch Float will launch H2O bombs into the crowd. The OK Corral Float will follow featuring Washington Wizards basketball stars Gilbert Arena and Javaris Crittenton with their guns a’blazing. Although we don’t know what will be going on inside, Washington’s “C” Street House Float will come next. Then comes the Late Night TV Roman Chariot Race with Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien and David Letterman pulled by network execs instead of horses as they battle for position. (more…)

From editor Joey Skaggs: I recommend this piece from The January/February 2010 issue of Tikkun written by Christopher Hedges about the cultural phenomenon of celebrity-ism. Parts are excerpted from his 2009 book, Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle.

Celebrity Culture and the Obama Brand, by Christopher Hedges

Barack Obama is a brand. And the Obama brand is designed to make us feel good about our government while corporate overlords loot the Treasury, armies of corporate lobbyists grease the palms of our elected officials, our corporate media diverts us with gossip and trivia, and our imperial wars expand in the Middle East. Brand Obama is about being happy consumers. We are entertained. We feel hopeful. We like our president. We believe he is like us. But like all branded products spun out from the manipulative world of corporate advertising, this product is duping us into doing and supporting a lot of things that are not in our interest.

What, for all our faith and hope, has the Obama brand given us?

Read the rest of this article here.

Editor’s Note: The manipulative, deceitful and very effective tactics I have used over the past 40+ years as an artist, activist and culture jammer to shed light on institutional, corporate and media efforts to mislead the general public have now been fully co-opted by the organizations victimized by them. It’s interesting to see the pendulum swing. Kudos to Ann Landman for this insightful and very useful article aimed at unmasking corporate and political tricksterism that blatantly utilizes disinformation to sway public opinion. One hopes the general public becomes more aware and is willing to fight against this insidious hype, hypocrisy, propaganda, and disinformation. JS

Attack of the Living Front Groups: PR Watch Offers Help to Unmask Corporate Tricksters
by Anne Landman
PRWatch.org / Center for Media and Democracy
August 28, 2009

Fake “grassroots” groups have started springing up like toadstools after a rain, and this time they’re coming at us from every angle: they’re on TV, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube: “Americans for Prosperity,” “FACES of Coal, “The “Coalition to Protect Patients’ Rights,” “Americans Against Food Taxes,” the “60 Plus Association,” “Citizens for Better Medicare,” “Patients First” … It’s making our heads spin! Issues affecting some of the country’s biggest industries, like health insurance reform, a proposal to tax sodas and sugary drinks, and the FDA’s possible reconsideration of the plastic additive Bisphenol A, have boosted corporate astroturfing up to a dizzying pace. With all these corporate fronts coming out of the woodwork, how can citizens tell true grassroots organizations from corporate fronts operated by highly-paid PR and lobbying firms? Here are some tips to help readers spot this kind of big-business hanky-panky.

What is a “front group,” really? (more…)

From Joey Skaggs:

New York, New York, March 30, 2009 — The 24th Annual April Fools’ Day Parade will begin at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street at 12 noon, Wednesday, April 1st, 2009. Rain or shine, the parade will march down to 23rd Street, where it will continue down Broadway to Union Square Park for post-parade festivities. For several blocks, the parade route will require a mad dash through a gauntlet of teetering construction cranes.

The theme for this year’s parade is “Take the Money and Run.” Led by Grand Marshall Bernard Madoff, the parade will kick off with the SEC Marching Band playing the Beatles’ hit song “Money.” Spectators are requested to participate by photo-copying hundred dollar bills and tossing them out windows or from roof-tops at the passing parade instead of confetti. (more…)

Here, in response to our call for DIY Bank Hack design submissions, October 19, 2008, are two downloadable designs you can print and post in a public place (such as a bank or ATM machine).

Pranksters: These designs are copyright free. Put them up around town. And if you send us your photos/video links of your hacks, we’ll make best efforts to put them up on ArtofthePrank.com!

Artists: Send us more designs for DIY Bank Hacks!

From Melissa Silva of kungakare.blogspot.com:

Bail out the Rich, so the Poor have the Freedom to Starve

Download higher res file here.

From Peter Markus:

Casino Bank

Download higher res file (pdf) here.

From Joey Skaggs, editor of The Art of the Prank at ArtofthePrank.com:

This is an open call to artists and pranksters…

Artists: Submit your designs for signage. We will feature our favorites on ArtofthePrank.com, making them available for all to download and place publicly (such as on bank doors, windows and ATM machines).

Here’s an example by artist Peter M. Markus:

Pranksters: For your hacking pleasure, download a higher resolution pdf here; print it (11″ x 8 1/2″); and post it around town. Photograph your handiwork and submit it to us at ArtofthePrank.com. We’ll post the most inspired examples.

A call to action from Joey Skaggs, Editor of The Art of the Prank at ArtofthePrank.com:

Calling All Pranksters (and non-pranksters too)!

Greed, dishonesty, government deregulation and lack of oversight got us into the largest global financial crisis since the Depression. Express your outrage at having to bail out the bastards while they pass the buck! Print these “Useless Bucks” and put them in circulation. In other words, Pass the Buck… back. Take them to your financial and banking districts and give them away; Toss them from high places; Place them on those nearly useless ATM machines; Start your own bail-out program by giving six useless hundred dollar bills to all your friends. Do anything you want with them, just don’t try to spend them!! They’re useless.

Pass the Buck… back

If the Fed can print money indiscriminately, so can we!

Download this pdf template, print your own useless dollars, and put them in circulation around the world. Document your actions in video or stills. Mount your video on YouTube or another embedable video service and send us the URL, and, if you take stills, submit your photos to ArtofthePrank.com. We’ll post your most inspired examples of Passing the Buck… back.

40 years ago, this past August, Abbie Hoffman and a small group of “Yippies” infiltrated the New York Stock Exchange and dumped dollar bills on the Stock Exchange Floor as a statement about greed. As part homage to Abbie, and because of our own outrage about the current situation, we encourage you to do the same today.

Here are the Instructions: (more…)

From Editor, Joey Skaggs:

Last night I received a call from Nadine Baker, Ilene Baker’s younger sister, who told me Ilene is sadly with us no more. Ilene and I were classmates and became very close friends at the School of Visual Arts in New York City in the early 60’s. We went our separate ways but always remained close. Ilene was a unique individual and a gifted artist. She was always a willing volunteer and co-conspirator for many of my performances from the Cathouse for Dogs to Walk Right! to the Bad Guys Talent Management Agency. Her talent and spirit will be dearly missed.

Advertisers are trying harder and harder to trick consumers with ads that mimic the work of pranksters, street artists and media activists. Going viral with your ad has become the brass ring, with customers doing all the heavy lifting (i.e., distributing these ad campaigns through YouTube, blogs and emails) for free for the advertisers.

It’s challenging to tell the difference between true guerrilla theater and this new trend of verité advertising. Here’s a hint: listen to the audio quality and watch for camera angles. Frequently, the main character who’s supposed to be the unsuspecting target of a joke is wearing a hidden microphone and there are at least three distinct camera angles, meaning it’s an expensive multi-camera shoot. If it sounds and looks too good to be true — it probably is.

Check out this article On Advertising: Alternative advertising to grab your attention, by Stephanie Clifford of the International Herald Tribune, August 3, 2008.

And, this viral commercial video submitted by Andrew Boyd yesterday:

Hidden Camera Penny Prank in Jewelry Store

This one, picked up from V. Vale’s RE/Search Newsletter, is just a regular German commercial, but fun (and viral) because of its shock value. (more…)

Art of the Prank contributor Mark Borkowski’s new book, The Fame Formula: How Hollywood’s Fixers, Fakers and Star Makers Shaped the Publicity Industry, hits bookstores today, Friday, August 1, 2008. Here’s a review from The Independent and several links to other recent articles about it.

Confessions of a stuntman: Mark Borkowski on the fame game
by Ian Burrell
The Independent
28 July 2008

The master publicist who promoted Jacko and Pavarotti and filled Selfridges with nude people is disturbed by the success of his profession – accusing it of promoting fake celebrity and soundbites that betray complex issues.

‘It’s not quite the Aleister Crowley-esque profession of popular legend, but the seeds of that are there,” admits publicist Mark Borkowski at the conclusion of his new book, The Fame Formula. “There’s an arcane thrill about the practice of publicity… it is a drug and as such must be handled with care, but the possibilities, now more than ever, are endless.”

We live in times when everyone, seemingly, craves celebrity and Borkowski is one of Britain’s most famous fame-makers, having represented Michael Jackson, Van Morrison, Eddie Izzard and Noel Edmonds, and in the course of his career he has learnt the skills, the tricks and ruses to transform unknowns into household names and to prevent stars fading from the public gaze.

Yet there is a cynicism around the role of public relations, (more…)

The April Fools’ Day Parade Committee and staff wish to thank all the people who made the parade this year the most successful ever. We had a record turnout, both in floats and costumed participants, as well as the cheering onlookers along the parade route.

A special thank you to students from the School of Visual Arts, Parsons the New School for Design and Cooper Union for your wonderful floats, and the students of Fashion Institute of Technology for your brilliant costume designs.

The after-parade party in Union Square also broke all records. The crowd, not unexpectedly, crowned George W. Bush as the King of Fools. The only negative mark was the arrest of three revelers who burned the presidential effigy. However, they were released without charges, so all ended well.

We’ll see you all next year!

Related links:

The Art of the Prank is one year old today!

Many, many thanks to all the supporters, contributors, readers, and friends who have made it such a great success!

images: party balloons, zombies

Courtesy of Joey Skaggs at ArtofthePrank.com:

Click, print, cut & mail to: Governor Eliot Spitzer, State Capitol, Albany, NY 12224 or any other deserving soul, for that matter: