KK 1952-1985

I had succeeded in creating this art dealer persona to the extent that few people in NY had any idea that I was an artist. I had not shown any work in NYC and was feeling the need to switch gears. I made the rounds of the gallerys to no avail. No one had any interest in showing an art dealer from California with a degree in theology and a dead cow. People want to keep things simple. If they know you as one thing they don't want to confuse the issue. My ego was suffering under the strain of chatting up the rich weekenders cruising the EV in search of a bargain. I decided to give myself a show, but not as Christmo. I invented a fictitious artist- Kristan Kohl.
Kristan Kohl was a German woman, painter of the post-pattern abstraction school. Having her be a German would allow me to make excuses for her absence at openings. I ordered some high end stretcher bars and canvas and went to work. I'd never painted before so I had to keep things simple. I made KK a monochrome painter. Then something strange happened. I found that i really enjoyed doing these paintings. I put a circle here, a squiggle there, added another color. Before i knew it KK had some style going on. Her work was maturing.
I told my friend Chuckles the Clown, who happened to be an art critic at the EV EYE, about my ruse and he promised to review the show and not narc me out. I actually sold a small painting. Then I decided to kill KK off. Again, with the help of Chuckles who wrote an obit, I started representing "the estate of KK". I put an ad in Artforum and kept the scam going. KK now being dead, her prices went up. I moved from Brooklyn to Manhattan, scoring Tony Oursler's old pad on E6th and A. BNJulie moved over to E11th and we continued our tryst. Now, she was the only one cheating and i was trying my damndest to remove Rochester boy from the picture. Then, one day i got a call from Marcia Tucker at The New Museum. She wanted to include KK in a show. My cover was blown.