Picturing Art in Film and Video

Catalog description

The art of cinema can also be the cinema of art, that is, movies made about art and artists. This course will focus on the last fifty years of American art seen through films and videos produced up to the present time. Analysis of the a wide range of filmic approaches will contrast biographical dramas such as Pollock and Basquiat with classic documentaries such as Painters Painting, experimental narratives like Downtown 81 (with Jean-Michel Basquiat), or hybrid documentaries such as Charlie Ahearn's Artist Portrait Videos. The primary focus will be on the evolution of art and artist's studio practice.