CINEMATIC EXPERIENCES By Rochelle Belsito
THE UPCOMING EXHIBITION MOVIE NIGHT EXPLORES THE IMPACT OF FILM.
Most of us can vividly remember our moviegoing experiences. The smell of buttery popcorn that fills the entryway. The folding red-cushioned chairs that have become synonymous with theaters. The shushing from other patrons as the lights begin to dim. The flick of the big screen as previews begin rolling. And, finally, the first bars of music as the production studio intros come on the screen to greet the viewer into their 90-plus-minute escape. As we sit and watch, we are transported to other worlds that when the credits roll instantly spark conversation whether we are thrilled with what we just saw or ambivalent.
The characters and scenes can be relatable moments to our own lives, or things that have captivated our attention and allowed for engagement with bigger communities. Superhero and fantasy movies often strike mass fanfare, resulting in comic conventions and people anticipating sequels or larger series of films. There are classics recognized for the brilliant acting or technological advances that solidify their place within popular culture.
Movies have also become sources of inspiration for other artistic fields, including the visual arts where moments and characters pivotal them are translated into works of art. October 5 through November 4, Ille Arts in Amagansett, New York, will present Movie Night, an exhibition curated by Rick Davidman that will include paintings, sculpture and mixed media pieces relating to films.
“What I said [to artists submitting work was] I wanted it to be their take on the movie,” Davidman, a former gallery owner and financial advisor, says. “I am not looking for an illustration of the movie or a portrait of the actor in the movie, or them depicting a scene as it is. It’s more of a jumping-off point and how it inspired them to do something else. To varying degrees the work will relate to the movie, but for them each work is going to have its own title and be inspired by the movie.”
Women and their experiences drive Victoria Selbach’s artwork, so it is no coincidence that she is inspired by movies that do the same. Her painting Shatter, which was inspired by Chasing Amy and will appear in the Movie Night exhibition, depicts a naked woman breaking through an array of comic books, no longer confined by the box that women are usually held within. “The individuals at the center of both the film Chasing Amy and the painting Shatter confront the false choice of boxes and stereotypes,” Selbach explains. “Both works assert that we will not be defined or contained by the dictates of a narrative written by others.”
Three iconic movie villains—Alex DeLarge, the Joker and Hannibal Lecter—are at the center of Grant Gilsdorf’s triptych A Clockwork Orange, The Dark Knight, Silence of the Lambs. When displayed as a singular unit, Gilsdorf says, “it becomes apparent that these characters portray a shared form of primal evil. Their wicked expressions seem almost interchangeable, or at the very least, derived from the same root of darkness. This is the look of evil.”
Terrence Melick’s movie The Tree of Life was the inspiration behind Claudia Kaak’s Untitled (Series 10, No. 5), which taps into adolescence on a deeper level. Explaining her painting and its connection to the film, Kaak says, “The movie and its motifs resonate with me in its impressive and emotive portrayal of a child conflicted. He experiences extreme emotions transitioning from the innocence of childhood to a disillusioned adulthood. My painting draws upon the maternal warmth offered to the child. It is a simple scene, a whispered moment; the shadows are laden with an undercurrent of a deeper meaning. Movie stills and photographs provide a means for me to understand my own childhood experiences, which were far from ideal. I explore societal taboos and disorder, and through my artistic practice I hope to be able to deal with the damage of my past and provide my own children with a world of wonder and nurture.”
Artist Tom Birkner says that some of his most vivid childhood memories come from car-chase movies such as White Line Fever, Vanishing Point and Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry. For the exhibition, Birkner’s painting The Antagonist depicts a character and idea that has stuck with him. “But Duel and its predatory ghost truck was the most haunting. Utterly simple, fraught with tension, doom on the horizon. Heavy stuff for a 6-year-old,” he says. “The road is a continual theme in my paintings because it’s a continual presence in American life. But it’s also possible that a 52-year-old mind, once captured by a movie like Duel, is still influenced by it after 46 years.”
Peter Drake hopes to shed light on strange moments—the space between the real and the unreal. His painting Kyrie Eleison is named for a song that is sung by the stranded boys in Peter Brook’s 1963 film
adaptation of William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies.
“After a plane crash, a group of English schoolboys attempt to reproduce order and stability they are familiar with only to have it devolve into barbarity and murder. Anyone who has viewed a mob scene or children playing ‘war’ on a playground or our current political landscape knows how easily chaos trumps civility,” Drake says. “The song the boys since in the film is the chant of Kyrie Eleison (Greek for ‘Lord have mercy’). Kyrie Elesion reveals the way that normative culture conceals a more complex psychological arena. The scene I’ve choice to depict is where decent lawabiding boys have become savage hunters of their own friends.”
Shiva Jlayer’s portrait of Isla & Rick, from the classic film Casablanca, is reflective of personal and romantic struggles that people go through. “As an immigrant, I relate to the struggle that Ilsa had with coping in a world that had been turned upside down,” Jlayer says. “Among the most famous quotes from Casablanca is Rick saying, ‘Ilsa, I’m no good at being noble, but
it doesn’t take much to see that the problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday you’ll understand that. Here’s looking at you kid.’ But the irony here is that it does matter. It matters a lot. For a romantic, it’s all that matters and the rest of the world is suddenly meaningless.”
Turning to another classic romantic film is Polly Cook, whose work Anything Can Happen is an interpretation of An Affair to Remember wherein the themes of the movie appear in her work as symbols that allow the viewer to interpret the work in a personal way.
“In this piece, it was enjoyable to include details that allude to the film for the viewer to discover,” she describes. “A few of those are the lace shawl that Nickie’s grandmother made, a heart that reads ‘Remember,’ the hint of pink champagne in the bottle and in their glasses within the sofa scene on the vase. There also is a bit of collage utilizing vintage papers and song lyrics collaged under the wall paper since Terry was a nightclub singer. Of course, the ‘star’ is the Empire State Building, the symbol of the closest thing to heaven Terry can imagine. And, who hasn’t gotten a thrill when you first view that Manhattan skyline? I hoped to create a feeling of the themes in this film, that go beyond an illustration...ones that any romantic can appreciate!”
The range of movies found in the artwork Davidman selected for the show is far reaching. He wanted to include a little bit of everything because not only do a variety of genres interest him but also he wanted audiences to connect to what is in front of them. “[The exhibition] brings back thoughts on the movies, but it’s also about the audience,” he explains. And just like how watching movies brings people together, Davidman finds viewing art to be similar where the artist is engaging the viewer. He says, “I want them to enjoy the experience.”