Celebrity Art for Charity’s Sake

Grandma Moses once said, “A primitive artist is an amateur whose work sells.”

The crowd outside the Triangle Gallery on Saturday night indicated that something big in the art world was about to occur. Another Robert Longo show? An exhibit of the major works of David Hockney?

Not quite. It was an “invitational only, opening night gala” for an exhibit by jazz legend Miles Davis and rock star John Cougar Mellencamp, who had just begun painting last year and was presenting his “inaugural exhibit.” The two had joined together for a $100-per-ticket benefit for L.A.’s Harbor Interfaith Shelter, a local charity that benefits the homeless.

There were no prices on any of the paintings, and it took some coaxing to get representatives of the Triangle Gallery to provide figures. Davis’ paintings range from $17,500 to $40,000, and Mellencamp’s work ran from $8,000 to $25,000. (Not bad for an artist’s first exhibit.)

Actress Mariel Hemingway was among the well-heeled crowd eyeing the canvases, while others took a quick look and repaired upstairs to Victor Hugo’s, where patrons of the arts guzzled champagne and discussed the importance of this exhibit.

Mellencamp himself was modest about the magnitude of this work in relation to the larger art world. In materials provided to the press, he said, “I’ve tried many types of paintings, trying to find some truth on the canvas, but as of yet I have failed to do so. It is probably too soon for me to be showing my work.”

Which raised the question: Why did he?

Mellencamp, puffing on a cigarette while he signed autographs, shrugged. “I don’t think you’re ever ready,” he said genially. “If I’d stopped to think about it, I would probably say I wasn’t even ready to record an album. You just do it, I guess.”

Miles Davis didn’t feel like talking. So there wasn’t much to do but wander outside, where musical Don Henley was scowling at photographers as he made his entrance. And after that, there wasn’t much to do at all except scurry through the crowd of Mercedes and BMWs at the entrance, and reflect that Grandma Moses was a wise woman.