REEL ARTISTS FILM FESTIVAL

I was very excited to learn that the Alberta College of Art and Design (ACAD) is hosting the Reel Artists Film Festival at the end of this month. Very sad to find out it is on while I am out of town :-(

From their catalogue of films being shown, three jump out as ones I would love to see.

The first is on Friday, March 26 at 9:15 PM - Yayoi Kusama: I Love Me. The description reads: Director Takako Matsumoto takes us into the world of Yayoi Kusama, a polka-dot loving artist recognized internationally. This film captures Kusama's creative process as she completes a series of 50 large monotone drawings. As her work develops, one witnesses the essence of her art as it wells up in the conflict between life, death, and love - sometimes quietly and sometimes just the opposite. Her firm self-confidence and dignified spirit allows viewers to enter Kusama's world, where there is never a dull moment.

Kusama
The Galaxy, 1994


On Saturday, March 27 at 4:30 PM - Takao Tanabe: A Work of Art. The description reads: Takao Tanabe has been an important figure in Canadian art for over 60 years, contributing immensely to landscape traditions in contemporary Canadian paintings. Born in British Columbia in 1926, Tanabe studied in Europe, the United States, and Japan. This film chronicles Tanabe's life from internment on Canadian soil during WWII to beginning painting during the early days of abstract expressionism to working through his current practice. Now in his early '80s, Tanabe is direct and articulate, giving the audience a true sense of the man behind a remarkable body of work.

Tanabe
Low Tide, 1989


And on Sunday, March 28 at 2:30 PM - Chuck Close. The description reads: Chuck Close has been best known as a re-inventor of portraiture. As we hear this articulate and affable man discuss his personal journey, we also watch him create a self portrait. Numerous interviews with his subjects - friends, artists, and family who discuss their own work and life in relation to his - make clear how far this artist has transcended categories like realism, process and abstraction. Throughout, the profound influence Chuck close has had on his generation of art becomes undeniable.

Close
self portrait, 1997

Admission to all films is free.

The movies will be shown in the Stanford Perrott Lecture Hall, ACAD on the Sait campus. 1407 14 Avenue NW, Calgary.

This posting describes only 3 of the 13 films being shown. There are also workshops happening over the week. Go! Go! Be cultured!!!

For the catalogue of the entire festival click here.