My Name is Alan, and I Paint Pictures

Added: (Fri Feb 06 2009)

Pressbox (Press Release) - ‘My Name is Alan, and I Paint Pictures’
A film by Johnny Boston

My Name is Alan and I Paint Pictures is a haunting documentary created by the emerging super producer-director, Johnny Boston. The film is a five-year chronicle about Alan Streets, a paranoid schizophrenic, as he struggles to succeed as an artist in New York City.

Alan’s life is a constant series of questions, concerns and fears. Will his work be appreciated? Will he be taken advantage of? Will he be able to keep his disease subdued without medication?

My Name is Alan and I Paint Pictures follows this talented artist from the suburbs of London to the wards of Bellevue Hospital in New York City and out on to the streets where he sets up his easel every day – fair weather or foul -- and paints canvases of the urban landscape.

Alan battles the demons in his own head with vast quantities of alcohol, a wide variety of drugs (legal and otherwise), and, ultimately, just a paintbrush and canvas. Clean and sober and off of all meds, Alan now lives in New York determined to succeed as an artist on his own term s. But can an isolated, still paranoid Alan make it an art world where success sometimes depends as much on whom you know as on what you paint? This film and this unforgettable character will probably change your beliefs about Schizophrenia as something that is always debilitating.

Alan’s story unfolds through the eyes of his parents, friends and lovers, psychiatrist, and Alan himself. In time, we get to know Alan very well through swatches of his daily life, his interactions with others, and, crucially, through his paintings.

Interviews with the art community complement the story. They include:
Robert Storr - Art Historian and Former Curator, MOMA;
Arnold Lehman – Director, Brooklyn Museum;
Pamela Willoughby – Gallery Manager of Marc Borghi Gallery;
John Maizels – Editor, Raw Vision Magazine;
and Daniel Kunitz – Critic, Art Review.

Alan’s struggles and difficulties as an artist and a recovering person are so fully delineated that one is left wondering if Alan’s paranoia is generated by his illness or rather is simply a function of the reality of trying to make it as an artist in New York City.


The film is going to air on Ovation Arts Network at these times:

Saturday, February 7th at 8pm & 11pm

Wednesday, February 11th at 9:30pm & 12:30pm

Sunday, February 15th at 8pm, 11pm & 2am

Ovation TV can be found on the following channels:

directv - 274
dish tv - 157
verizon fios - 188
time warner of NY - 83
time warner of LA - 175

in Connecticut

Hartford: CH 176
Waterbury & Seymour: CH 143
Norwich & Old Lyme: CH 167
Carmel: CH 109