As seen on TV: Chesnut's "Total Request Live/Limp Bizkit" (2001), top;
the artist with "The Today Show/Backstreet Boys" (2001), bottom

"I draw on the parallel between entertainment and religion," says New York City artist Fritz Chesnut, whose new series of paintings depicts the hyper-demonstrative fans outside MTV's TRL and NBC's Today Show. "Being on camera is like going from human to godlike, in a way," he says. Well, that depends on how you look at it—especially since, as Chesnut's work proves, almost anyone can do it. Each week, the 28-year old plants himself in the midst of the screeching teen militia that gathers outside MTV's Times Square studios. "These kids really are trying to look hip and cool," he explains, "yet they've lost their self-consciousness in the crowd." Chesnut, who takes about 60 fan pictures a day, got the idea for his work after attending a taping of the Ricki Lake show five years ago. Since then, he's been toppled by Backstreet-hungry 14 year olds and reprimanded by police, yet remains undeterred. "The funny thing is," Chesnut says, "I have a weird aversion to crowds. I guess you could call it a phobia. Almost."    BETH WAWERNA


Source: Wawerna, Beth, Show Us Your Zits, SPIN, February, 2002, p. 52