Gene Merritt grew up with alcoholic and violent parents. His mother committed suicide when he was twelve years old. As an adult, he worked odd jobs and joined his father in leading a life full of violence and alcohol. At the age of fifty-six he began drawing. The drawings from the first period, inspired by the photos of show business stars, political personalities but also animals, are composed like puzzles from dislocated pieces. After the death of his father Gene Merritt lived completely abandoned in a trailer on the land of a family that was supposed to take care of him. Thanks to the support of some rare friends and social aide Gene Merritt stopped drinking. He lived in a social housing in Rock Hill. His drawings had become simpler, the lines dividing the faces had disappeared and the portraits had become smoother.
8 minutes . Digital Beta . French-English . Edit / Jan Zuska c/o UPP . Image Treatment . Rasto Simocko c/o UPP . Graphic Design / Michal Habrdla c/o UPP . Music / John Lee Hooker “backstabbers” / Otis Redding “(sittin’on) the dock of the bay” . Mix / Lukas Moudry c/o beep . Executive Production / Barbara Safarova . Post-production / Jan Hrubec c/o Filmservice Productions . With the help of: Tom Stanley, Pavel Simbartl, Tiffany Hanney, Michal Kuba, Filmservice Productions, UPP . Production abcd 2000
broadcast:
.American Folk Art Museum, New York
.High Museum of Art, Atlanta
.Collection de l’Art Brut, Lausanne