'My Kid Could Paint That'

Today I bought and watched ‘My Kid Could Paint That’ (directed by Amir Bar-Lev.) The documentary follows a four year old named Marla Olmstead and her parents. Four-year-old Marla started doing abstract paintings in her diapers on the dining room table. Her parents decided to display them at a friend’s restaurant as a joke and surprisingly the public wanted to buy them. The fact that a four year old painted them didn’t deter many people from buying them, or paying thousands for them!

What I found refreshing was how Marla maintained her childlike innocence through her fame. When asked, by the documentary interviewer to speak about her art, she clearly refused and decided to ask him to help her make a puzzle instead. The documentary takes a turn when there is speculation by the media that Marla might not be the sole creator of her art and that her father either does them for her, or helps and guides her through each thousand-dollar painting. This torments the father because it is evident that it will hurt painting sales. It also doesn’t help the fact that his dream is to make his daughter big in the art cities of Europe. My heart goes out to the mother who clearly wants to protect her daughter from the media and openly struggles on film with the downside that fame brings.

Critics wonder if Marla’s work can be classified as art if she is able to create it but can’t express rationale behind what her work means. A lot of skeptics wanted proof that they were in fact Marla’s paintings and wanted to see live footage of the creation of a painting. Every time cameras would go into the home to videotape, Marla became nervous and couldn’t create a ‘good’ painting. Later on, the parents provide footage in a film called ‘Ocean’ of Marla creating one her better paintings. Marla’s work is compared a lot to the work of Jackson Pollock. This comparison brings about positive critiques from those who believe that abstract art is considered real art. There is also, of course, negative criticism from those who believe abstract work doesn’t deserve to be called art.

I tried to keep an open mind throughout the documentary. I thought that by the end I might have made up my mind on whether to believe that they were indeed her paintings but I couldn’t. I was left pondering what my real thoughts are on modern art and whether or not I believe abstract art can truly be considered art. Whatever, the documentary makes you feel, you can’t deny that four-year-old Marla is an adorable little girl.