On Saturday August 11th, RAC | Recession Art at CULTUREfix presents
ART + ANGER: a Kenneth Anger Screening Party
August 11th 10pm to 1am, RAC | Recession Art at CULTUREfix,
9 Clinton Street NY, NY 10002
On August 11th, RAC hosts a night-long screening of Kenneth Anger’s short avant garde films
Prolific filmmaker of the 1960’s and 1970’s, Kenneth Anger created a body of the
most influential avant garde films. Totaling at 3 hours, RAC will play
nine of his most critically-acclaimed completed works in a relaxed
ambiance with an informal seating area. Anger’s films center on and
critique the dangerous allure of popular culture and Hollywood through
their spectacle-based narrative structure. Visually, his pieces strongly
draw on imagery from the occult, 70’s countercultures, and eroticism
and are soundtracked by artists such as The Dells, A Raincoat, Jimmy
Page, Elvis Presely, The Angels, Vivaldi, Ricky Nelson and the
Shangri-Las. Self-described as a magician who uses cinematography as a
magical power, Anger’s main goal in his filmmaking is to seduce the
audience into entering an alternative construction of artistic realities
and create an enigmatic atmosphere for the viewer that goes beyond the
screen.
Anger famously screened his films in his windowless apartment in the Lower
East Side to a small community that included notable creative minds such
as Alfred Kinsey, Mick Jagger, and Tennessee Williams. RAC aims to
recreate this intimate screening experience thirty years later in their
Lower East Side location. With a gallery space, extensive beer
selection, and communal tables with ample seating, enjoy RAC’s relaxed
and social ambiance while viewing a selection of Anger’s most
influential films.
Kenneth Anger (b. 1927, Santa Monica, California) has been creating films since the 1940s with his first being Who Has Been Rocking My Dreamboat (1941). Anger’s six-decade-long oeuvre includes most notably Fireworks (1947), Puce Moment (1949), Eaux d’artifice (1953), Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1954-66), Scorpio Rising (1963), Kustom Kar Kommandos (1965), Invocation of My Demon Brother (1969), Lucifer Rising (1970-81)), Rabbit’s Moon (1950-79), Mouse Heaven (2004), Elliot’s Suicide (2004), and the recent Ich Will! (2008) and Foreplay
(2008). His films have inspired contemporary filmmakers such as Martin
Scorsese and David Lynch. Anger now resides in New York City and
continues to work in filmmaking.
RAC
is a project of the arts organization Recession Art and the alternative
arts space CULTUREfix. Recession Art connects emerging artists with
aspiring collectors and provides an affordable and accessible
alternative to the traditional art market. CULTUREfix is a bar, gallery,
and event space that combines food, art, and performance to offer a
different idea of a public space. RAC is located on 9 Clinton Street
between Houston and Stanton streets, accessible from the Second Avenue F
Station and Essex Street JMZ trains. RAC is open 2-8 pm Tuesday –
Sunday. Visit www.RecessionArtShows.com for more information.
Image: KENNETH ANGER, Hollywood Babylon, Neon and Plexiglass, 1975.
