Christopher Frederick, 34

urbanlovedaily.tumblr.com, www.christopherfrederick.com

Tell me about your art.
I work in all kinds of media. The work I'm showing today is photography, painting, and drawing.

Are you formally trained?
I went to RISD for my B.F.A. and Syracuse for my M.F.A.

Have you shown your work?
Not in the last few years because I've been making an independent film. But I have five drawings in a show on Staten Island at the end of the month.

What attracted you to this show?
My friends insisted I apply. At first I thought it was ridiculous, but then I read the application and thought the questions were really well phrased. Plus, I'm unemployed. What else am I going to do on a Saturday morning?

Would being on TV frighten you?
No. I've done some acting and modeling. About four years ago, I was going through a lot of doubt and anxiety about the art world and the art market. I needed to take a break, and I started taking acting classes. It actually kicked my creativity back into full gear.

Who's the most overrated artist working today?
Matthew Barney. Some of his videos are great, but if you made them in two minutes and put music over it, it would be great on MTV. His props look really cheap. They belong in film and video, not in museums.

What's the most scandalous thing you've done as an artist?
At a festival in Marfa, Texas, I did a performance where I walked out into the crowd buck naked and other artists shrink-wrapped me to a pole. These two young girls came up and were giggling and took lipstick and drew stigmata on my feet. I thought, "This is Texas, I'm not sure how cool that is." They were turning this thing into a statement I'm not sure I wanted to make.

But you couldn't do anything about it. You were shrink-wrapped!
Later on a woman came up and was shocked and angry. She said, “Did you do that?” And I said, “No, I didn't.” She said, “Do you want it there?” I said, “Not really.” She said, “Do you want me to get rid of it for you?” I said, “If you want.”

You had no choice, being shrink-wrapped.
Couldn't do anything. So she digs in her purse, gets a tissue out, pours some of her bottled water onto it, and tries to rub it off, but the water and the oil in the lipstick didn’t mix, so she just labored over washing my feet and smeared the lipstick all over. I got really uncomfortable, realizing the religious symbolism of it.

Do you feel a lot of pressure, standing here in line?
It’s like playing the lottery. Art is so subjective. Either they like you or they don't. It doesn't mean anything about anyone's work. If you stress out about this, you’re really worrying about the wrong things in life.

Photo by Sarah Douglas