Still from Irene Duga's Pesca Pisca, 1968, 16mm, color, sound, 4 min. Courtesy of the Film-Makers’ Cooperative.
On the occasion of Mary Grigoriadis at James Cohan, this program of films presented in collaboration with the Film-Makers’ Cooperative highlights women filmmakers who experiment with the physical medium. Like Grigoriadis’s attention to the material quality of her paintings, these filmmakers intervene directly on the surface of their films, scratching, painting, tinting, and even deliberately eroding the emulsion by burying it in a landfill. Works like Storm De Hirsch’s psychedelic classic Peyote Queen (1964) and Irene Duga’s Pesca Pisca (1968) explore the female form, abstracting it in paint. Others employ inventive processes, like Carolyn Avery’s experiments with using scotch tape to pull ink off of magazines before adhering the tape to the surface of Pilgrim’s Progress (1985).
The screening will take place on 16mm film and features rare vintage prints. Photosensitivity warning: this program includes some strobe-like visuals.
This program is free and open to the public. No advanced registration is required.
Program:
Storm De Hirsch, Peyote Queen (1964, 16mm, color, sound, 9 min)
Irene Duga, Pesca Pisca (1968, 16mm, color, sound, 4 min)
Katherine Bauer, Popples Feet (2017, 16mm, color, sound, 4 min)
Caroline Avery, Pilgrim’s Progress (1985, 16mm, color, silent, 9 min)
Joyce Wieland, Hand Tinting (1967, 16mm, color, silent, 6 min)
Olga Spiegel, Alchemy Blues (1974, 16mm, color, sound, 10 min)
Jennifer Reeves, Landfill 16 (2011, 16mm, color, sound, 9 min)
= 51 Minutes Total