In his short career, Jean-Michel
Basquiat was a phenomenon. He became notorious for his graffiti art under the
moniker Samo in the late 1970s on the Lower East Side scene, sold his first
painting to Deborah Harry for $200, and became best friends with Andy Warhol.
Appreciated by both the art cognoscenti and the public, Basquiat was launched
into international stardom. However, soon his cult status began to override the
art that had made him famous in the first place.
Director
Tamra Davis pays homage to her friend in this definitive documentary but also
delves into Basquiat as an iconoclast. His dense, bebop-influenced
neoexpressionist work emerged while minimalist, conceptual art was the fad; as
a successful black artist, he was constantly confronted by racism and
misconceptions. Much can be gleaned from insider interviews and archival
footage, but it is Basquiat's own words and work that powerfully convey the
mystique and allure of both the artist and the man.
Featuring
interviews with Julian Schnabel, Larry Gagosian, Bruno Bischofberger,
Tony Shafrazi, Fab 5 Freddy, Jeffrey Deitch, Glenn O'Brien, Maripol, Kai Eric,
Nicholas Taylor, Fred Hoffmann, Michael Holman, Diego Cortez, Annina Nosei, Suzanne
Mallouk, Rene Ricard, among many others.
Narrated by Dustin Hoffman, VISUAL ACOUSTICS celebrates the life and career of Julius Shulman, the world's greatest architectural photographer, whose images brought modern architecture to the American mainstream. Shulman, who passed away this year, captured the work of nearly every major modern and progressive architect since the 1930s including Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Neutra, John Lautner, and Frank Gehry. His images epitomized the singular beauty of Southern California's modernist movement and brought its iconic structures to the attention of the general public. This unique film is both a testament to the evolution of modern architecture and a joyful portrait of the magnetic, whip-smart gentleman who chronicled it with his unforgettable images.
]]>In WILLIAM KUNSTLER: DISTURBING THE
UNIVERSE, filmmakers Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler explore the life of
their father, the late radical civil rights lawyer. In the 1960s and 70s,
William Kunstler fought for civil rights with Martin Luther King Jr. and
represented the famed "Chicago 8" activists who protested the Vietnam War. When
the inmates took over Attica prison, or when the American Indian Movement stood
up to the federal government at Wounded Knee, they asked Kunstler to be their
lawyer.
To his daughters, it seemed that he was at the center of
everything important that had ever happened. But when they were growing up,
Kunstler represented some of the most reviled members of society, including
rapists and assassins. This powerful film not only recounts the historic causes
that Kunstler fought for; it also reveals a man that even his own daughters did
not always understand, a man who risked public outrage and the safety of his
family so that justice could serve all.
Starring a selection of artists who are considered leaders within this culture, Beautiful Losers focuses on the telling of personal stories. It speaks to themes of what happens when the outside becomes "in" as it explores the creative ethos connecting these artists and today's youth.
]]>Artfully directed by first time filmmaker Wendy Keys, the film glances into everyday moments of Glaser's personal life and capture his immense warmth, humanity and the boundless depth of his intelligence and creativity.
Koolhaas' work is as much about ideas as it is about constructing buildings; he is equally celebrated as a writer and social commentator, his 1978 publication Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan is heralded as seminal text on modern society. For Koolhaas what is essential is not to create individual masterpieces, but to provoke and excite through the wide range of his activities.
REM KOOLHAAS - A KIND OF ARCHITECT is an engaging portrait of a visionary man, which takes us to the heart of his ideas. The filmmakers have made a visually inventive thought provoking portrait of the architect, prompting Rem Koolhaas to state "it's the only film about me that I have liked."
]]>Produced by Martin Scorsese and Robert Greenhut and directed by Arne Glimcher, PICASSO AND BRAQUE GO TO THE MOVIES is a cinematic tour through the effects of the technological revolution, specifically the invention of aviation, the creation of cinema and their interdependent influence on artists Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. With narration by Scorsese, and interviews with art scholars and artists including Chuck Close, Julian Schnabel and Eric Fischl, the film looks at the collision between film and art at the turn of the 20th Century and helps us to realize cinema's continuing influence on the art of our time.
]]>Originally released in 1973 but never before
available on DVD, PAINTERS PAINTING is the definitive documentary on the New
York School of painters, from 1940-1970. Director Emile de Antonio (Point of Order and Millhouse) interviews artists in their studios
about their art
from the period of Abstract Expressionism, through Hard Edge and Color Field
painting to Pop Art. Among the featured painters are Robert
Rauschenberg, William de Kooning, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Helen
Frankenthaler, Frank Stella, Barnett Newman, Hans Hoffman, Jules Olitski,
Philip Pavia, Larry Poons, Robert Motherwell, and Kenneth Noland.
PAINTERS PAINTING is newly digitally remastered
and restored by the Museum of Modern Art (New York) and the University of
Wisconsin Film Department.