Thomas Kinkade: The Artist in the Mall

Often featuring lighthouses, bridges, or quaint country homes, Thomas Kinkade’s soft-focus landscapes have permeated American visual culture during the past twenty years, appearing on everything from bibles, to bed sheets, to Visa cards. The self-proclaimed Painter of Light™ has achieved this feat by selling his work in his own shopping-mall galleries and through QVC, the Internet, and Christian stores. Kinkade is quite possibly the most collected artist in the United States. While many art-world and academic critics have dismissed him as a passing fad or marketing phenomenon, the contributors to this collection do not. Instead, they explore his work and its impact on contemporary art as part of the broader history of American visual culture. They consider Kinkade’s imagery and career in relation to nineteenth-century Currier and Ives prints and Andres Serrano’s Piss Christ, the collectibles market and the fine-art market, the Thomas Kinkade Museum and Cultural Center and “The Village at Hiddenbrooke,” a California housing development inspired by Kinkade’s paintings. The conceptual artist Jeffrey Vallance, curator of the first major museum exhibition of Kinkade’s art and collectibles, recounts his experiences organizing that show. The contributors bring art historical, visual culture, and cultural studies perspectives to bear as they seek to understand Kinkade’s significance for both art and his audiences. Along the way, they delve into questions about beauty, class, kitsch, religion, and taste in contemporary art.

Contributors
Julia Alderson
Alexis Boylan
Anna Brzyski
Seth Feman
Monica Kjellman-Chapin
Micki McElya
Karal Ann Marling
David Morgan
Christopher Pearson
Andrea Wolk Rager
Jeffrey Vallance