For a while now, I've been seeing all these lists on what art docs are good. I've been watching art docs for as long as I've been focusing my time on painting. I believe the first real art documentary I ever watched was Sister Wendy's Story of Painting. Sounds funny but I was living in Newport News, Virginia at the time, I believe it was 1997. And to see the wild pourings of Pollock, the Radiance of Rothko, the Facility of Frank Stella and the Meditations of Agnes Martin, really blew me away. It's funny because I'm sure I had been introduced to the work of a few of these when I took art classes in the 5th grade. Though to this day I can only remember seeing a slide of a black stripe on white background Piet Mondrian. It was the only thing that touched me on a gut level when I was young.
Sister Wendy's Story of Painting
Once I saw this film, and began pausing the section on Rothko just to stare at that work for as long as the tape machine would let it. I had a revelation that art didn't just have to be about recognizable imagery. Many of you know me, and you know that I only grew up drawing cars and band album covers. So I didn't have your regular art education. I skipped many of my art classes in high school because I didn't think they were letting us learn at a pace I wanted to move at. I was not interested in drawing a face or perspective. Mostly because I could already do that. Growing up in Columbus Ohio. I never went to the Art museum...one of the smallest in the country and still is BTW.
Well, shortening up the story. Here's a list, and the youtube links to show you this collection of documentaries on Artists. The one not here on De Kooning, you won't find on youtube. So this is really all about the videos you yourself can see on youtube without my help in finding them. These are in no particular order.
Jean Michel Basquiat - The Radiant Child
Great doc on a great painter to really turned recognizable imagery on it's head.
Robert Hughes - The Mona Lisa Curse
A sad doc about the state of the art world in the present moment.
The Power of Art - Rothko
The best doc on Rothko, I only wish the guy they had as Rothko was the one in a few of the RED plays.
The Great Contemporary Art Bubble
Great doc from the BBC on....well you can tell by the title.
Herbert Kline's The Challenge - A Tribute to Modern Art
This is a tremendous documentary you won't find anywhere except youtube today. This guy went around and really visited the big artists of that age, Miro, Picasso, Soulages, and OH so many more. Watch the whole thing.
Showing posts with label Painters Painting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Painters Painting. Show all posts
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
An introduction into my life with this film...
It has been about 2 years now that I have been working on this documentary. Many ups and downs...the ups always outweighing the downs. And so much that I have learned. I have given the idea of a book on my travels and insights into the art world a lot of thought, and I figured I'd just go and print some of the introductions right here for you to get a peek into my life, as I am giving you a peek into these people's lives.
So without further ado. Here's how it began.
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It was 1999 when I fist got to see the film Painters Painting. I remember I went to the library that day; we have a great library in Columbus, Ohio, always voted the best, even better than NY’s public library. I found myself checking through all the vhs tapes, looking for something interesting to watch, maybe there was a nice art documentary in the art section that would give me some insight into art that I had yet to find. As my eyes darted back and forth over all the basic videos of Picasso and Renoir, I suddenly came across this white vhs tape box with red lettering that said PAINTERS PAINTING. I immediately felt, hey this might be something here, grabbing it, and checking out the back of the box. I see names like Jackson Pollock, Willem De Kooning, Barnett Newman, Larry Poons, Jules Olitski, and Frank Stella. I knew right then I was in for a treat. I almost couldn’t wait to get back home to watch this. 2 hours is a long time for a documentary, but I remember being glued to the TV as I was watching this. I only found myself hitting fast forward when Andy Warhol came on the screen. That guy has always bored me to tears. But immediately after was one of my absolute favorite painters…Frank Stella. I noticed that the way the film was put together, that it had the originators, and then it went into the generation right after, finally ending up at the end with the youngest of all the people in the film. A young Larry Poons, who had been in his second phase of his painting journey for only about 2 years when Emile De Antonio came to film. Larry is a brilliant painter, and his section is still my absolute favorite of the film. I always felt that De Antonio put his section the way it was, so that we wouldn’t be interfered in it by anyone else getting in the way of what was happening. We actually get to witness something you’ll probably never see in another film, a painter cropping his own painting. I say this not to demean, but to give you an idea of how rare videos like this really are. The window they give us into the world of these geniuses.
It was 1999 when I fist got to see the film Painters Painting. I remember I went to the library that day; we have a great library in Columbus, Ohio, always voted the best, even better than NY’s public library. I found myself checking through all the vhs tapes, looking for something interesting to watch, maybe there was a nice art documentary in the art section that would give me some insight into art that I had yet to find. As my eyes darted back and forth over all the basic videos of Picasso and Renoir, I suddenly came across this white vhs tape box with red lettering that said PAINTERS PAINTING. I immediately felt, hey this might be something here, grabbing it, and checking out the back of the box. I see names like Jackson Pollock, Willem De Kooning, Barnett Newman, Larry Poons, Jules Olitski, and Frank Stella. I knew right then I was in for a treat. I almost couldn’t wait to get back home to watch this. 2 hours is a long time for a documentary, but I remember being glued to the TV as I was watching this. I only found myself hitting fast forward when Andy Warhol came on the screen. That guy has always bored me to tears. But immediately after was one of my absolute favorite painters…Frank Stella. I noticed that the way the film was put together, that it had the originators, and then it went into the generation right after, finally ending up at the end with the youngest of all the people in the film. A young Larry Poons, who had been in his second phase of his painting journey for only about 2 years when Emile De Antonio came to film. Larry is a brilliant painter, and his section is still my absolute favorite of the film. I always felt that De Antonio put his section the way it was, so that we wouldn’t be interfered in it by anyone else getting in the way of what was happening. We actually get to witness something you’ll probably never see in another film, a painter cropping his own painting. I say this not to demean, but to give you an idea of how rare videos like this really are. The window they give us into the world of these geniuses.
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Cheers.
Thanks for reading.
Jeffrey
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