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Now Playing
Directed by Morgan Neville
USA, 2006
Color
86 Minutes
Show Times:
Fri., Dec. 7 7:00 PM
Fri., Dec. 14 7:00 PM
Winner best documentary at the Woodstock Film Festival.
Los Angeles, 1957. Walter Hopps (1932—2005), the legendary curator who would later serve as the first director of Houston´s Menil Collection, and artist Ed Kienholz (1927—1994) scribble a pledge on a hot-dog wrapper: "We will be partners in art for five years."
From that agreement sprang Ferus Gallery, which over the next decade—subsequently under the direction of Irving Blum—nurtured L.A.´s first generation of significant postwar artists. Operating out of a small storefront on La Cienega Boulevard, the gallery hosted debut exhibitions that launched the careers of not only Kienholz but many other artists as well, including Wallace Berman, Robert Irwin, Craig Kauffman, Ed Moses, and Ed Ruscha. Artists from the Ferus stable shook up the dull tastemakers, got arrested for obscenity, and expanded their ranks to embrace fellow innovators from across the spectrum, including Marcel Duchamp, Dennis Hopper, and Andy Warhol. But with great success came even greater egos and competition that threatened to take the gallery´s campaign to bring contemporary art to L.A. down before it was fully up and running. Jeff Bridges narrates a detailed and devotional documentary celebrating the energy, irreverence, and talent that inspired this pivotal moment in the history of American art.
The following works are currently on view, near the entrance to the Brown Auditorium Theater:
Edward Kienholz
American, 1927-1994
Nancy Reddin Kienholz
American, 1943
Still Dead End Dead No. 3
1987
Mixed media assemblage
Suzanne Paul
American, 1945-2000
Walter Hopps
2000
Gelatin silver photograph
Gift of Betty Moody and Bill Steffy in honor of Walter Hopps
Cosponsored by the Menil Collection, Aurora Picture Show, Documentary Alliance, and Glasstire.com (Texas Visual Art Online). Members of these organizations receive $1 off admission price.
Pictured above: John Altoon, Craig Kauffman, Alan Lynch, Ed Kienholz, Ed Moses, Robert Irwin and Billy Al Bengston. Photo by Patricia Faure.
MFAH Films: The Cool School
Interview with Kristine McKenna, coproducer/cowriter of The Cool School.
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Be sure to check back for additional screenings or changes in the Films schedule. You can also contact us with questions about future films at film@mfah.org.
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