Siran BabayanHe may have been recently booed on stage in Detroit, but Burbank still loves Charlie Sheen. Though the crazy train that is Sheen's 22-city live tour has yet to schedule L.A. as a stop, the warlock/tiger/Adonis/violent torpedo of truth himself stopped by Hyaena for Winning: The Charlie Sheen Exhibit (running through April 15). And what better place to host an art show inspired by his wacky ramblings than a gallery that specializes in Gothic, horror and serial killer art? (That cleaver painted with Anton LaVey's face would work for cutting up lines of coke).
After word of the exhibit reached Sheen, the actor popped into the Burbank gallery — which is conveniently located only a few blocks from Warner Bros. Studio where Two and a Half Men was filmed– last Wednesday, with his “goddesses” Bree Olsen and Natalie Kenly in tow. He posed for pictures with owner Bill Shafer, signed and bought a few of the art works, and even provided commentary on some of the pieces, which the gallery had on video and played on constant rotation during Saturday's opening reception.
Jim Wirt's Aladdin Insane; Credit: photo by Siran Babayan
“It's by no strange coincidence I mentioned Bowie in my manifesto,” Sheen pointed out while standing in front of the exhibit's centerpiece, Jim Wirt's print of Sheen a la David Bowie's Aladdin Sane album cover (a lad in sane, indeed). “If I could drink milk through your fuckin' canvas I would,” he said of Brian Bubonic's Tony the Tiger-esque painting.
Brian Bubonic's Tony at the Plasma Center; Credit: photo by Siran Babayan
But Sheen reserved his perhaps funniest and most non-sensical praise for Donnie Green's Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?-themed painting, likening it to “Cicely Tyson sucking off Norman Rockwell.” Maybe he meant Mike Tyson and Norman Bates? Ok, you try thinking like Charlie Sheen.
Donnie Green's Whatever Happened to Baby Sheen?; Credit: photo by Siran Babayan
Jeff Rebner's Tiger Warlock Hunter Troll American; Credit: photo by Siran Babayan
Aside from all the tiger- and warlock-themed canvases and prints — Jeff Rebner's print even featured caricatures of both CBS CEO Les Moonves and Two and a Half Men creator Chuck Lorre — there were some other highlights, including Aidan Casserly's ink drawing of Sheen as a sendup of Rambo in Hot Shots (“I should've won the Oscar!”) and James Bonner's brass bust with the word “winning” carved in. Considering all the art work was sold prior to the exhibit's opening, both Sheen and the gallery are winning.
James Bonners; Credit: photo by Siran Babayan
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