Gum Blondes

by Ashley Turner

From bubblegum pop culture to bubblegum pop sculpture, Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Marilyn Monroe and Jessica Simpson never looked so lovely. Tucked away in a little studio near Bathurst Street and St. Clair Avenue in Toronto are some creative and unconventional portraits of powerful blonde celebrities.

Local artist Jason Kronenwald gives his viewers something to chew on with his life-size portraits of renowned blondes laboured from chewing gum. Kronenwald’s installations, appropriately called “Gum Blondes,” were first meticulously crafted in 1996 with untainted, masticated gum that was first chewed by his classmates in the fine arts program at Queens University. “My inspiration comes from working with everyday materials.  I scour the streets for garbage, not picking it up, but being inspired,” said Kronenwald.

Now many of you may be asking: Isn’t ABC (already been chewed) gum disgusting? “Not really…gum has its own messiness.  I disinfect it before I use it… I treat it like paint.”

Another problem with gum is, that gum portraits will age and most likely lose at least some of their
appeal. Kronenwald uses epoxy resin, a sealant that acts like an anti-aging serum.

Kronenwald said he’s a mix-medic: an artist who experiments with unconventional materials like gum and garbage rather than paint and plaster.  He says the appropriation of gum in his work houses vital meaning. “People chew gum, spit it out and don’t think twice about it.  That’s what we do with these Gum Blondes.”

Kronenwald started this series 10 years ago because he felt North Americans were consumed with celebrities such as Britney Spears. He was inspired by the way North American culture propelled her to superstardom only to spit her out and move on to another blonde like Paris Hilton.

Wil Kucey is the curator and director of Le-Gallery in Toronto. Kucey says Kronenwald’s experimentation with gum displays a very strong and technically skilled example of artists who are using alternative media in their work.

“I see the Gum Blondes as a reflection of contemporary culture,” says Kucey. “The use of a mass-produced, barely degradable novelty such as chewing gum serves as evidence of (a) culture rich with frivolous products and discardables.

“Kronenwald's work takes the plethora of blonde pop star images into a marriage of excess. Yet, like a lot of good advertising, the end result or the reading of the piece is subtle and ambiguous.”
Unfortunately, Kronenwald says, Gum Blondes are often misconstrued as homage to these favoured nymphets.

Kronenwald stuck to blonde celebrities for a reason. He says they exemplify what’s wrong in pop culture today by pencil-pushing an image that isn’t real, and forcing people to follow these celebrities if they want to be what Hollywood says is ideal for success.

“(Paris Hilton’s) done nothing to get where she is,” Kronenwald says. “Yet everyone is just fascinated by her. She’s interesting because she’s a socialite with a lot of money. Who could resist her?”

He has also struggled with ideal Gum Blondes that just couldn’t face up.

“Mariah Carey.  I tried it, but it didn’t turn out.  I think I hated her too much.  The work has to flow and look accurate.  She looked evil.”

As for the possibility of Kronenwald sculpting male celebrities, he says “I’ve thought about Gum Blonde men, like Brad [Pitt] and Justin [Timberlake], but I didn’t want my work to lose… continuity.”