October 16 – An Evening with John Smith
Posted by | Conversations at the Edge | Posted on | October 13, 2014
Thursday, October 16th | John Smith in person!
Still from Dad’s Stick (John Smith, 2012). Courtesy of the artist.
In his playful and thought-provoking short films and videos, UK filmmaker John Smith explores the language of cinema and reflects on the image’s role in politics, war, and the global economy. The 2013 Jarman Award winner presents a selection from across his 40-year career, including the seminal The Girl Chewing Gum (1976), an absurdist fantasy applied to the banal setting of a busy London street; Throwing Stones (2004), a personal and political meditation on ongoing conflicts in the Middle East; Dad’s Stick (2012), a surprising personal history; and the Chicago premiere of Dark Light (2014), among others.
Presented in collaboration with the Video Data Bank, Northwestern University’s Department of Art Theory and Practice, Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, and the University of Chicago’s Film Studies Center. Smith presents his work at the Block Museum of Art on Wednesday, October 15 and at the Logan Center for the Arts on Friday, October 17.
1976–2014, UK/Cyprus/Switzerland, multiple formats, ca 76 min + discussion
Since 1972, John Smith (b. 1952, London, UK) has made more than 50 film, video, and installation works which have shown in cinemas, art galleries, and on television around the world. He has been the subject of retrospectives at film festivals in Oberhausen, Germany; Tampere, Finland; St. Petersburg, Russia; La Rochelle, France; Mexico City; Uppsala, Sweden; Cork, Ireland; Regensburg, Germany; Karlstad, Sweden; Winterthur, Switzerland; Bristol, UK; and Glasgow, Scotland. Smith has had solo exhibitions at Tanya Leighton Gallery, Berlin (2013); Kestnergesellschaft, Hanover (2012); Turner Contemporary, Margate (2012); Weserburg Museum for Modern Art, Bremen (2012); Uppsala Art Museum, Sweden (2011); and PEER Gallery, London (2011). He teaches at the University of East London where he is Professor of Fine Art. In 2011 he received a Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award for Artists, and in 2013 he was the winner of Film London’s Jarman Award. His work is held in numerous collections including Arts Council England, Tate Gallery, Ella Fontanals-Cisneros, Kunstmuseum Magdeburg, Ferens Art Gallery, and Wolverhampton Art Gallery. He lives and works in London.
About
Conversations at the Edge is a weekly series of screenings, performances, and talks by groundbreaking media artists.
CATE is organized by SAIC's Department of Film, Video, New Media, and Animation in collaboration with the Gene Siskel Film Center and SAIC's Video Data Bank.
Programs take place at the Gene Siskel Film Center (164 N. State / Chicago, IL / 312.846.2600), unless otherwise noted.
