I just seen this documentary an hour ago on the Sky Arts Channel and I have to say this is kinda the weirdest art documentary I've ever watched. The skinny guy Mark Landis looks so zoned and depressed looking that poor fella looks like a 70 year old for a 60 year old. I suppose, when he was caught by donating the art of the artists he copied by giving them to museums, it probably has shaken him a lot. I say if he didn't have to be doing that, he would've been one of the best artists out there. He is, but he just seems to be somewhere else because of what happened effected him. I'm sure he has his own talents of course, everyone does! It just seems that the whole "forging" event took a toll on him. I have to say, this documentary was interesting at the same time because I have never heard of Landis before and like, I wasn't aware of what happened back in 2007. I wonder if hes still doing art right now or has given up completely after making this documentary?

This documentary is both weird and remarkable at the same time, and I found myself truly fascinated from beginning to end.It focuses on the art copier, or art "forger" as some would call him, Mark Landis, who was living in Laurel, Mississippi at the time of the filming. Since Landis was a child, he's had this amazing ability to copy famous art works, with materials he purchases mainly from local businesses.He's so prolific and expert in this that he has gifted over 100 pieces of art, over a 30 year span to 46 museums in 20 U.S. states. Using the ruse that a member of his family had passed away and thus he wanted to donate from their estate these "valuable" art pieces for display in their museums. Without doing their due diligence, most of these museums gladly accepted his gifts and proudly hung them in their galleries.When he was 17-years-old Landis suffered a nervous breakdown, after his father died. Ever since, he's been diagnosed with serious mental health issues, and you see him going to a mental health clinic several times in the film. However, as long as he stays on his meds and is not a danger to himself or others, he can function in society.The former Chief Registrar at the Cincinnati Art Museum, Matthew Leininger, is also prominently featured in the documentary. He became aware of what Landis was perpetuating and even though he hasn't been with the museum for quite awhile, he remains quite obsessed to expose Landis, because he feels it's not right and is a fraud. However, the former founder of the FBI Art Crime team, Robert K. Wittman, says in the movie that he doesn't consider what Landis is doing a crime, because he's not receiving any compensation for his "gifts". By the time, Landis meets Leininger, towards the end of the film, I just found myself emotionally rooting for Landis.In summary, I found this documentary to be highly unique and felt it was presented in such a way that I was riveted throughout and wondering how it would all turn out.

I really wish the film Art and Craft had been made a few years ago before I retired from teaching. This is because in my psychology classes, I occasionally showed my students films about strange people and we'd discuss the possible diagnoses that you could give to the folks portrayed in the film. Well, in the case of Art and Craft, this really would have opened up some wonderful discussions, as the man featured in this documentary, Mark Landis is one odd character...and that's putting is mildly!So what is it about Mark that makes him unusual you may ask. Well, he's a world-class forger and has made hundreds of copies of great works of art. This in of itself is not so unusual. Hold on to your hats. Mark then DONATES these paintings to various art galleries across the United States! He receives no money for this and his only reward is knowing that he's tricked the museums into hanging his fakes. In some cases, he's even gone to extremes to put over these fakes--such as posing as a priest or a variety of other people! At this point you are probably wondering what makes him tick--and that is what makes the film so interesting. Landis is obviously mentally ill--but not necessarily in a traditional sense. Does he have a personality disorder? Well, a true antisocial personality would do this for money and personal gain--but where is the gain? He's been diagnosed as schizophrenic and I'll admit that he's odd and a tad delusional-- but can such a person normally be able to convince so many people that he's a great philanthropist?! He also reminds me quite a bit of someone with an Autism Spectrum disorder, as his social skills are incredibly poor in some ways and he has a savant-like ability to copy paintings almost exactly. Yet, interestingly, he cannot make anything really original. His one 'original' picture that he talks about is just a drawing of a photograph. So, he's an amazing artist with no apparent ability to abstract or create something on his own. But there is still far more to the story--including another individual who sure shows a lot of Obsessive-Compulsive traits--so much so that he appears to have given up his job in order to follow Landis and identify his fakes! All in all , this is one very strange documentary...but also one that you cannot stop watching because it IS so strange and compelling. Additionally, some of the special features on the DVD (which came out this week) are pretty interesting. So why an A- and not a higher score? Because although the film is interesting, it does leave a lot unsaid and unexplained- -such as how Landis can afford his supplies and to travel the country posing as a philanthropist even though he has no job. Odd but definitely worth your time.

So, this guy goes to this museum and says that he wishes to donate a painting by a well-regarded, if minor artist in memory of a dead loved one. Later on, it turns out he has done this hundreds of times over the decades and it wasn't noticed for twenty or thirty years. He donates the works. He doesn't even take a tax deduction. The forgeries are fairly crude, often photocopies with some extra paint poured over them.Is it a practical joke? Performance art? An indictment of the so-called experts at museums? Whatever it is, that's what Mark A. Landis has been doing for several decades and when two museum guys realized this, they were angry. Unfortunately, they can't do a thing about it, because Mr. Landis did nothing illegal. They do call him various forms of crazy.I do that too when someone pulls some hoax off on me. It serves me right to fall for it.That's what this documentary is about and it never answers the question "why?" Probably because the answer would embarrass people.