Jeff Gillette
Jeff Gillette is a contemporary American artist based in Southern California. He is best known for his subversive 'slumscape' paintings ironically featuring Disney characters. He is often cited as the inspiration for Banksy's 2015 Dismaland theme park installation, in which he was a featured artist. Influences Gillette grew up in the suburbs outside Detroit and drew a lot of creative inspiration from the TV show "The Wonderful World of Disney". When he visited the actual Disneyland theme park in 1978, he found himself disappointed by its artificiality, staying for only 30 minutes. As an artist, however, Disney characters, especially Mickey Mouse, continued to hold his interest. Gillette dropped out of college in 1982 and began touring the most "beautiful and horrid landscapes" he could find, which included the Himalayas and Calcutta, India. He later became a volunteer for Peace Corps. Many of the 'slumscapes' he paints are directly inspired by the residential slums he witnessed in his extensive travels. After moving to Orange County (where Disneyland is based) for a teaching position, he became inspired to combine the two distinct aesthetics of residential wastelands and theme parks in his work. Gillette is a self-described pessimist, influenced by the writings of