Endlessly entertaining, often hilarious collages of celebrities, politicians, and ordinary people are at the crux of artist Phillip Kremer's infamy. He makes art that is as interesting as the stories behind his creations. After hosting his first art show in the bathroom of a dive bar 20 years after his final art class in high school, Kremer found new excitement in making art once again. The series of collages started from Google searches of "blank face" when Kremer couldn't find anything. "At that time all I wanted was something that I could easily print copies of and paint faces on," says Kremer. "I craved a simpler time like when I'd draw mustaches and horns on the faces of people in the magazines my mom had laying around when I was a kid." But the story was anything but simple.
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First, Kremer's Instagram account, with around 4,000 followers, was shut down without warning or reason. He never found out why, and after opening a new account, was booted again, again without reason or warning. He recently he got his profile back, but in the meantime didn't stop working on his freakish portraits.
The creative process itself brings a lot of enthusiasm to Kremer. "There are several layers of excitement beginning with random image searches," he says. The infinite range of outcomes, different color blending and the interaction with the people from all over the globe, have a big influence on him as well. "There is also a sense of satisfaction I get from closing the mouth of someone I don't want to hear, or shutting the eyes of someone I don't want staring back at me," he says.
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