3rd Annual Tampa Bay Latin International Film Festival

 Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, Films, Florida Art Shows, Pinellas County, Video and Film
Sep 192023
 

Trailer for Translators

This past Saturday was the 3rd Annual Tampa Bay International Film Festival in collaboration with Dunedin International Film Festival, Mi Gente Mi Pueblo, and Creative Pinellas. The short films selected for the festival varied in length, subject matter, and style- but they all presented unique perspectives on the Latin American experience.

The film above Translators, directed by Rudy Valdez, was a standout. The moving documentary short tells the story of three children in the U.S. who, as the only English speakers in the family, help their parents by translating for them. You can watch it in full for free on the film’s website, linked above.

Below is the flyer from the festival with a list of all the films. On Tampa Bay International Film Festival’s Instagram, you can find more details on each of them.

Sinéad O’Connor (1966-2023)

 Films, Music, Musicians / Bands
Jul 272023
 

Sinéad O’Connor- Feel So Different

Sad to hear of the passing of the brave, beautiful, and talented musician Sinéad O’Connor yesterday at 56 years old. A true artist with a phenomenal voice, she always stood firm in her convictions. The song above is from her second album, I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got released in 1990.

To learn more about O’Connor, her memoir Rememberings was released in 2021 and there is also the 2022 documentary,  Nothing Compares.

Rest in Peace.

NYC Art Shows- Chris Burden at Gagosian

 Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, Conceptual Art, Films, Installation Art, New York Art Shows, Performance Art, Public Art, Sculptors / Sculpture, Television, Video and Film
Jun 232023
 


Closing tomorrow, 6/24, is Cross Communication, an exhibition of Chris Burden’s relics, films, video works, and other materials that document his early performances at Gagosian’s 75th and Park location in NYC.

Walking into the gallery and hearing one of his TV commercials in which he reads off the names of famous artists followed by his own name (Chris Burden Promo (1976)), is a humorous introduction to Burden’s often audacious work. Poem for LA from 1975, which follows with the messages- “SCIENCE HAS FAILED”, “HEAT IS LIFE” and “TIME KILLS” still resonates today.

Check out the video below to see the commercials and hear Burden discuss the work.

Other videos included have him crawling across glass; lying between two sheets of glass that are on set on fire (Icarus); and one of his most infamous- being shot in the arm (Shoot, 1971). The less outrageous works are great too, including Disappearing (1971), pictured above.

For more on the artist, the excellent documentary Burden, by Richard Dewey and Timothy Marrinan, follows his career from these earlier works to the large scale sculptures like Metropolis II and Urban Light that came later. Both of these installations are on view in Los Angeles at LACMA.

NYC Art Shows- Charles Atlas at Luhring Augustine

 Art, Art Shows by Location, Artists, Dance, Films, New York Art Shows, Performances, Video and Film
Mar 092023
 

 

It often feels like we are oversaturated with images in today’s world, but the energy at the Charles Atlas exhibition A Prune Twin at Luhring Augustine gets the balance right.

From the gallery’s press release-

Luhring Augustine is pleased to announce A Prune Twin, the gallery’s third solo exhibition with pioneering film and video artist Charles Atlas. The presentation will mark the American debut of this major multi-channel installation with sound that was originally commissioned by the Barbican Centre, London as the centerpiece of their 2020 exhibition, Michael Clark: Cosmic Dancer; which traveled to the Victoria and Albert Museum in Dundee, Scotland in 2021.

The collaboration between the two artists began in 1984 when the young dancer, Clark, performed in two single-channel films by Atlas: Parafango and Ex-Romance. However, it was not until the groundbreaking Hail the New Puritan in 1986, that the relationship between the two artists was deeply cemented. Originally commissioned as an arts documentary by Channel 4 of the BBC, Hail the New Puritan turned the genre on its head, presenting a highly stylized and fictionalized version of a typical day in Clark’s life – an “anti-documentary”, as Atlas has called it.  The two artists also worked closely together on another Channel 4 production, Because We Must (1989), which was full of extreme theatricality in its dance, choreography, scenery, costumes, and directorial position.

In A Prune Twin, Atlas pulls material from these two major films to create an immersive eight-channel installation of sound and moving image. He extends the idea of choreography to camera and sound, flowing across and throughout screens and monitors; in this sense, Atlas choreographs his own past material into a new and compelling dance all of its own. Evident in this work, and many others by Atlas, is his strong affection and attraction to exceptionally creative collaborators, his sensitivity to movement and how to capture it on film, and his novel skills as both a storyteller and observer. Much like MC9, an immersive installation that compiles Atlas’ extensive work with Merce Cunningham, A Prune Twin surrounds the viewer in a beautifully choreographed spectacle. The work captures the spirit and passion of a 35-year collaborative relationship, one that continues to this day – currently realized through the lighting design that Atlas produces for all of Clark’s live performances, an endeavor he has undertaken since the 1980s.

Augusta Street Art- Leonard “Porkchop” Zimmerman

 Artists, Augusta Street Art, Drawing, Films, Georgia Street Art, Painting / Painters, Video and Film
Feb 162022
 

This work is by Augusta artist Leonard “Porkchop”  Zimmerman.

Zimmerman is the subject of the 2016 documentary Happy: A Small Film With a Big Smile, by filmmaker Michael McKinley. The film was inspired by the artist’s 2014 TED Talk.

Cutie and the Boxer

 Art, Artists, Films
Feb 282014
 

Cutie and the Boxer- Official Trailer

Currently on Netflix streaming and nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary, Cutie and the Boxer is a glimpse into the lives of two artists, Ushio Shinohara and his wife Noriko.

Noriko was only a 19-year old art student when she met 41-year old  artist Ushio, and they have remained together ever since. While the film presents Noriko’s sacrifices and frustrations within the relationship, it also shows the process that goes into the artistic work itself for each of them. Now, forty years later, she is showing her own work and emerging from the shadow of her husband’s career.  It’s a fascinating, intimate portrait of the couple.

For more information on Ushio:

http://www.ushioshinohara.com/

This is a good interview with Noriko:

http://thehairpin.com/2013/08/interview-with-noriko-shinohara

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)