Chuck Connelly

Chuck Connelly
Born(1955-01-07)January 7, 1955
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedApril 13, 2025(2025-04-13) (aged 70)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
EducationTyler School of Art
Websitechuckconnelly.org

John Charles Connelly (January 7, 1955 – April 13, 2025) was an American painter.

Background

John Charles Connelly was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on January 7, 1955. He graduated from the Tyler School of Art in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, in 1977.

Career

After graduating, Connelly 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 under the patronage of Atkins. Upon his return to New York in the early 1980s, 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 (the "Life Lessons" segment of New York Stories), directed by Martin Scorsese featured Nick Nolte as a Soho painter. Chuck's hands, painting and paintings were featured as Nolte's. Not long after the film's release, Page Six asked Connelly what he thought of the film, and he replied "well, it wasn't Raging Bull". which angered Scorsese so much so that he never spoke to Chuck again.

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.

On June 15, 2010, Connelly started a new web show called Stream of Thought.

A second full-length documentary celebrating the life of the artist, Chuck Connelly: Into the Light, had its U.S. premiere on October 29, 2020, at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival and has been winning first place in documentaries at film festivals across the country ever since.

Personal life and death

Connelly's first marriage, to Swiss artist Laurence Groux, ended with their divorce in 2005. In 2021, he married Adrienne Mooney.

Connelly died from prostate cancer at his home in Philadelphia, on April 13, 2025, at the age of 70.

Bibliography

Selected solo exhibitions

Public collections

Exhibitions catalogues

Film credits

Sources

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Sandomir, Richard (April 21, 2025). "Chuck Connelly, Combative Neo-Expressionist Artist, Dies at 70". The New York Times. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  2. ↑ Slotnik, Daniel E. (July 5, 2008). "For an Artist at Full Speed, Everything Else Just Takes a Back Seat (Published 2008)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 6, 2020.