LOS ANGELES FILMFORUM AND KHASTOO GALLERY PRESENT
CIRCLES OF CONFUSION: A HOLLIS FRAMPTON FILM RETROSPECTIVE
LOS ANGELES, January 7, 2009 – Los Angeles Filmforum and Khastoo Gallery are delighted to present CIRCLES OF CONFUSION, a five-screening series of films by Hollis Frampton, from January 21 to February 7, 2010, with guest scholars and artists at each program to discuss his works and their influence on later artists.
Hollis Frampton (1936-1984) was an American filmmaker, artist and writer who left a legacy of brilliant innovation in avant-garde cinema. His films were challenging and ground breaking explorations in the material properties of the medium, including but not limited to mathematics, the contours of perception and cognition, and the phenomenological nature of the motion picture. Among his best-known works are (nostalgia), Zorns Lemma, and the unfinished epic film cycle Magellan. Although few have seen (or had the opportunity to see) the full extent of his catalog, his reputation as a profound thinker and pioneer predicates the broad influence his work has had on both his peers in the 60s and 70s (from Frank Stella to Carl Andre and Lee Lozano) and artists today, from James Welling and Sharon Lockhart, to Jennifer Steinkamp, and many more. The past few years in particular have witnessed a mounting interest in the Frampton, with important symposiums organized in the states and internationally (Princeton University, 2004; Anthology Film Archives, 2009; Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2009; Chicago, 2010), publications (Rachel Moore’s study on (nostalgia) and the Bruce Jenkins edited collection of Frampton’s writings, On the Camera Arts and Consecutive Matters: The Writings of Hollis Frampton) as well as a new release of (nostalgia) on DVD (“American Treasures IV” from the National Film Preservation Foundation). In this retrospective of more than half of his complete catalog of films, audiences are offered an unique glimpse at what made this modernist “thinker” so significant to art history and relevant to contemporary practices in film, from pure celluloid to digital and online technologies.
Among those speaking will be James Welling, artist; Peter Lunenfeld, scholar at UCLA Yvonne Rainer, artist; Erika Vogt, artist; David E. James, film scholar at USC; Alex Klein, artist and curatorial fellow at LACMA. More to be added!
Los Angeles Filmforum is the city's longest-running organization screening experimental and avant-garde film and video art, documentaries, and experimental animation. 2010 is our 34th year.
Memberships available, $60 single or $95 dual
Contact us at lafilmforum@yahoo.com. www.lafilmforum.org
Khastoo Gallery was founded in November of 2008 by Leila Khastoo, a Los Angeles native interested in bringing an international academic perspective to the artistic landscape of the city. Shows at Khastoo emphasize the critical content of art and art making, integrating current global viewpoints with an art historical approach to programming. www.khastoo.com
This screening series is supported, in part, by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission and the Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles. Additional support generously provided by the American Cinematheque