DAAP Galleries Director Featured in Fall Season of PBS s 'POV' Series

When Aaron Cowan, director of the DAAP Galleries at the University of Cincinnati, saw a New York Times article in 2011 about a former colleague’s quest to uncover the infamous fine art forger Mark Landis, he thought the story would be a great way to illustrate the ethics of art for College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning students. Cowan’s invitation to that colleague led to a series of interviews between himself and Landis, conducted for the documentary film, "Art & Craft," which premieres this at 10 p.m. Friday, Sept. 25, on PBS’ "POV."

Trained at the Art Institute of Chicago, Mark Landis spent over two decades recreating and reimagining the work of artists including Mary Cassatt, Charles Courtney Curran and Honoré Daumier. Under various disguises — including Jesuit priest and art collector — Landis visited an estimated 60-plus museums where he would present his work as part of his family’s collection.

While he was working as a registrar at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, current Cincinnati Art Museum director of museum services Matt Leininger encountered Landis for the first time. Leininger discovered several of the fakes that Landis had gifted the Oklahoma museum. Fascinated with Landis’ technical skill, bold duplicity and theatrical disguises, Leininger began tracking the forger’s work across American museums with the goal of finding and stopping him.

The same New York Times article that piqued Cowan’s interest also caught the attention of documentary film directors, who connected with Cowan and Leininger as the two collaborated on a 2012 DAAP exhibition about Landis, “Faux Real.” The filmmakers documented Cowan's preparation for the exhibition, including a series of phone interviews he conducted with Landis, probing him on the motivation behind his career in forgery, his confidence in his creativity and technique, and asking him to put an end to the ruse.

Cowan’s interviews, which revealed the psyche of the elusive Landis, form the narrative structure of the documentary, "Art & Craft." The film premiered at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival, and it’s now featured in the fall season of "POV," the PBS series that showcases independent nonfiction films. Beginning Friday, Sept. 25, the series will run through Oct. 2 with "Art & Craft" airing throughout the week. For the complete "POV: Art & Craft" schedule, visit

http://www.pbs.org/pov/artandcraft/

and select “Check local listings” underneath the trailer window.