Quick Facts
Biography
Chuck Connelly (born January 7, 1955 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American painter.
Biography
Connelly graduated from the Tyler School of Art in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania in 1977. Afterward, he moved from the Philadelphia area to New York City, where Robert C. Atkins became one of his first patrons.
Connelly went on to spend two years in Germany, where he continued to develop his art work with the patronage of Atkins. Upon his return to New York in the early ’80s, the Annina Nosei Gallery began to show his work. During this time, Connelly began to rise to fame along with Julian Schnabel and Jean-Michel Basquiat in the New York City art world.
A movie was eventually made roughly based on Connelly (the "Life Lessons" segment of New York Stories), directed by Martin Scorsese. Not long after the film's release, Connelly made unfavorable comments about the film's script, calling it "cliché and mundane".
The Art of Failure: Chuck Connelly Not for Sale, an Emmy award winning documentary directed by Jeff Stimmel, premiered at the L.A. Film Festival in June 2008 and was shown on HBO in July. The documentary chronicles Connelly as he struggles with his temperament, alcoholism, and disillusionment with reality. These factors culminate in the alienation of gallery owners, collectors, and his wife; serving to depress Connelly further. The documentary details the tragedy of the fallen artist as he fights to maintain his dignity and integrity in the face of a world that refuses to accept him.
On June 15, 2010, Connelly started a new web show called Stream of Thought.