Jonas Mekas: New Work Jonas Mekas’ expands his captivating Collection of 40 Film Stills series with a landmark exhibition at Maya Stendhal Gallery, which will run from November 13, 2008 to February 21, 2009. The exhibition will premiere new compilations of images that draw from some of Mekas’ most memorable films. In form, subject matter, as well as the complex selective process by which they were created, these collections serve to establish Mekas’ far-reaching range as an artist, as well as his legacy as one of avant-garde films’ most important figures. On view will be Birth of A Nation (2008), a dynamic portrait of the avant-garde film community throughout four decades, Mozart & Wein (2008), a pictorial spotlight of Elvis Presley’s last concert, Velvet Underground (2008), which gives intimate access to the first public performance of one of experimental music’s most influential groups, and Summer Haiku: A Manifesto (2008), a picturesque work from which Mekas imparts his philosophical views on nature. These latest endeavors demonstrate Mekas’ ability to transcend mediums. He has used his films as flexible material, arranging it into multi-media installations. Mekas broke new ground concerning expressive possibilities of his film work when he unveiled his seven-monitor installation at Maya Stendhal Gallery in 2005, which then traveled to the 51st Venice Biennale where it received overwhelming critical acclaim. In a later interview, he commented: “there are no rules written on the sky . . . I can show my films on the screen, I can cut them into pieces and show them as objects or multi-media installations.” His interest in selecting certain frames and juxtaposing them presents a totally new experience of past work. Mekas’ willingness to play with his own material is part of the experimental openness that has made him so successful as an artist. In today’s digital world, the moving image has become objectless, just pixels on a screen. Film, on the other hand, it is something tangible. It is developed chemically, and exists as a different entity from the moving image made from it. Similarly, the still images on each filmstrip exist as something separate from the moving image. By isolating images from the film, and displaying them as prints hung of a wall, Mekas is laying bare the elements of film, an illusion created from a sequential set of images. He draws attention to both the filmstrip and the still images it contains. This dissection of the medium is truly avant-garde. It refuses to obey the conventions of the medium and reveals and examines the very nature of that medium itself. The project also recalls a fundamental tenant of Fluxus. It ignores the arbitrary distinction between mediums and embodies Fluxus as Dick Higgins famously defined it, as “intermedia.” Though a separate entity, the stills exist in dialogue with their original, cinematic form. Birth of a Nation is, as Jonas describes it, "one hundred and sixty portraits or rather appearances, sketches and glimpses of avant-garde, independent filmmakers and film activists between 1955 and 1996”. Already a collection of discrete fragments, Birth of a Nation lends itself to its new form as film stills. Velvet Underground, footage of the band’s performance at the 1966 at the Psychiatrist’s Convention, is a psychedelic montage of music, color, and dance. The stills from the film are similarly beautiful, as the strength of the moving image is captured and frozen. Zefiro Torna or Scenes for the Life of George Maciunas (2008), also part of this presentation, is composed of fragmentary scenes from the life of Fluxus founder George Maciunas. If Mekas’ films are diaries composed of fragments of his life, the lives of his friends, and the artistic fervor brought to every day life, then his film stills are the snapshots that adorn those diaries’ pages. All Collections of 40 Film Stills are produced in edition of 3 with 1 artist proof, and printed in cibachrome measuring 16” x 20” (40.64 x 50.8 cm) each. The film stills are signed individually in verso by Jonas Mekas, and a certificate of authenticity also signed by the artist and Harry Stendhal, Director of Maya Stendhal Gallery accompanies each collection. This exhibition coincides with a major career retrospective on Jonas Mekas at Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany on view from November 8, 2008 to March 1, 2009, which was produced with the support of Maya Stendhal Gallery, New York. The presentation examines important periods in the artist’s life and career through personal archives that include documents, photographs, catalogues, texts, and film posters. Highlighted are Mekas’ contributions to film through his activities in the New American Cinema Group, Film-makers’ Cinematheque, Film Culture, and Anthology Film Archives. Jonas Mekas will have a second major exhibition at Serpentine Gallery, London in 2010. For further information please contact: |