Michael Proft's oil painting Lunch (Michael Proft)
If you have ever been at Landmark Theaters and admired the lobby displays highlighting an upcoming film and utilizing more than the studio poster and cardboard standee, then you have seen some of Michael Proft's art. Now Proft will be showcasing his oil paintings at Claire de Lune (2906 University Ave.) during the month of November in an exhibit called No More Tea Parties: Paintings by Michael Proft.
The soft-spoken Proft is also a projectionist at Landmark and has been for more than a decade. In fact, I can remember when he used to work at Landmark's Ken Cinema and had his infant son in a high chair in the projection booth. Now his son is an adult. Wow, how time flies! Proft said he's painted all his life and can't stop. He said that's left little room for any social life and he confesses that he is just now discovering the Internet and e-mail. He brings his artistry to Landmark's lobby every now and then. The small landing on the stairs leading up to the bathroom at the Hillcrest Cinemas has often been his personal artistic space to create three-dimensional displays or shadow cuts featuring Landmark films such as Whale Rider and Pan's Labyrinth . In fact, my mother was so impressed with the stencil-like panels Proft did for Whale Rider that she had me query him about buying them and now has the stunning trio of images hanging on her wall.
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