Taking place this Thursday, April 25, 2013, at the Whitney Museum of American Art, as part of its Blues For Smoke multidisciplinary exhibit, which explores contemporary art through the lens of the blues and blues aesthetics…
THROUGH THE LENS OF THE BLUES AESTHETICAN EVENING OF SHORT FILMS SELECTED BY KEVIN JEROME EVERSON
THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013 7 PM
Kevin Jerome Everson’s work in film and photography evokes this tradition, conjuring the spirit of improvisation, brutality, and beauty in everyday life. For this evening, Everson has selected a program of short films, ranging from the 20th century to the present, that are inspired by the blues aesthetic and engage with themes found in the exhibition. Filmmakers include Charles Burnett, Kahlil Joseph, Horace Ové, Matthew Rolston, Cauleen Smith, Justin Randolph Thompson and Bradly Dever Treadaway.
$8 general admission; $6 senior citizens and students; free for members.
The Whitney doesn’t list the short films selected by Everson for the event, meaning you might have to go into the screenings blindly. However, I imagine Kahlil Joseph’s Until The Quiet Comes will be one of them.
And really, much of Charles Burnett’s oeuvre can be explored and experienced via the lens of blues and blues aesthetics. He made several short films (rarely screened) between 1969 and 2007, since his student days through the recent past, including: Several Friends,1969, 21 min; The Horse, 1973, 14 min; When It Rains,1995. 13 min; Olivia’s Story, 2000. 14 min; and Quiet As Kept, 2007. 6 min.
Cauleen Smith also has a full short film library – 2 of her most recent were profiled on this site a couple of years ago or so, funded by Creative Capital: Remote Viewing and The Grid.
She’s also an Afrofuturism proponent, and has created work in that space, titled The Fullness of Time, which is kind of a twist on John Sayles’ Brother From Another Planet.
For tickets, go to the Whitney’s website HERE.