Hans Josephsohn died last year at the age of 92. An example of his legacy is currently exhibited at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. We are given to understand that throughout his career, he drew on a 30 000-year-old tradition of figurative tradition. Certainly, the works in the Bothy Gallery, the outdoor terraced area, and the arcadian Formal Garden at YSP capture sentiments related to the archetypal and prehistoric. However, the methods employed by Josephson engaged and display his personal touch with sensuality. Also, he knew the subjects portrayed. They were, we are told, his friends. In this way, the works speak of both personal and universal intimacy.
Matt Greenhalgh: Supermarket Girl, Short Film from ASFF
BAFTA award winning screenwriter Matt Greenhalgh’s touching drama Supermarket Girl was a huge success at the Aesthetica Short Film Festival (ASFF) 2012. The short film follows the blossoming friendship between two supermarket workers, after endearingly awkward trolley attendant Andy discovers he shares a secret with lost and lonely checkout girl Michelle. Featured in festivals internationally, Supermarket Girl was screened in various venues across York last November as part of ASFF, including the impressive 15th Century Guildhall building located on the River Ouse. Matt also hosted a masterclass at the festival last year, which focused on screen writing and tips on how to succeed in the industry. There is still chance to submit a short film for ASFF 2013, the deadline is 31 May.
Artist Comes First: Toulouse International Art Festival
The Toulouse International Art Festival opens today and runs until 23 June. Promising to be a unique and inspiring event, this years festival is entitled Artist Comes First, which was also the artistic approach to the presentation. The Toulouse programme is innovative in its long-range planning approach, which can allow for artistic commissions to be site specific – giving time to the artist to create something truly new, challenging and inspiring. This fair’s goal is to be a reflection of the intimate and beautiful town of Toulouse, moving the presentation of art out of tents and into convention halls and historic buildings.
With only one week left to register your short film for this year’s Aesthetica Short Film Festival (ASFF), we spoke to festival regular Thomas Guerrier about previous success, plans for this year’s festival and what keeps him entering every year. Thomas makes up one part of the multi-award winning British filmmaking duo the Guerrier Brothers, whose short film Cleaning Up won Best Thriller at ASFF and has screened at festivals worldwide. The deadline for ASFF 2013 is 31 May.Interview with Thomas Guerrier, Winner of Best Thriller ASFF 2011
53rd Krakow Film Festival
Opening on the 26 May, the 53rd Krakow Film Festival includes the screenings of documentaries, short films and animations from all over the world. With an outstanding programme of events, the festival will run until 2 of June. This year, in addition to the previously established sections, there will be DocFilmMusic, a competition open to music documentaries. With ten qualifying films, the director of the best film will win a Grand Prix award – The Golden Heynal. The usual categories are the international documentary competition, the international competition of short films and the national competition.
Photoshopping, Short Film from ASFF
Written and directed by Mark Davenport of Fishmonger Films UK, Photoshopping is a 15 minute dark comedy about Elaine, a woman striving to turn her hobby into a world record. Being photographed with celebrities might seem a rare occasion to many, but for Elaine it’s a full time obsession that results in an expansive collection she hopes to turn into a world record. Coloured with cynical undertones, Photoshopping finds a balance between dark and light-hearted comedy, seeking the top spot at Aesthetica Short Film Festival (ASFF) 2012 as the winner of the Comedy category. There is still chance to submit a short film for ASFF 2013, which runs 7 – 10 November across the city of York. The final deadline for submissions is 31 May.
Nancy Holt and Robert Smithson: England and Wales 1969 at John Hansard Gallery, Southampton
The work of two leading world figures within the Land Art movement, Nancy Holt and Robert Smithson are on show at John Hansard Gallery, in a new exhibition England and Wales 1969, seeking to examine a short but significant moment within their working life together: a trip made to the UK in August and September 1969. Prompted by Smithson’s inclusion in the seminal ICA exhibition When Attitudes Become Form, Robert Smithson and Nancy Holt came to the UK and spent one month travelling together to various sites in England and Wales, from Chesil Beach, Dorset to Old Sarum, Wiltshire, Oxted chalk quarry in Surrey and Pembrokeshire, Wales. The exhibition provides an immersive overview of this journey, bringing together, for the first time, photographic and sculptural works produced by Holt and Smithson throughout.
Interview with Bruce Munro on his latest exhibition: Light
Internationally renowned British artist Bruce Munro will open Light, an exhibition of 10 breathtaking, large-scale outdoor and indoor lighting installations coupled with indoor sculptures, at Nashville’s Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum of Art from 24 May through 10 November. The exhibit will include four installations never before seen in the U.S. Using an inventive array of materials and hundreds of miles of glowing optical fiber, Munro will transform Cheekwood’s magnificent gardens, manicured grounds and rolling hills into an enchanting, iridescent landscape that emerges organically at nightfall. Aesthetica spoke to Bruce on his latest exhibition and what to look out for in the future.
My Neighbourhood, Short Film from ASFF
Directed and produced by Julia Bacha & Rebekah Wingert-Jabi, My Neighbourhood is a short film by Just Vision, exploring the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis in the midst of a transition championing human compassion. After Mohammed El Kurd, a Palestinian teenager finds himself forced to give up his home to Israeli settlers, local residents begin protests which Israelis unexpectedly start to join and support. A documentary of unexpected co-operation, My Neighbourhood demonstrates an account of Israelis and Palestinians finding common ground in the common good, untainted by ingrained orientation. The film was part of the official selection for the Aesthetica Short Film Festival (ASFF) 2012 as part of the Documentary series, and won the Peabody Award 2012, Warsaw Jewish Film Festival and the Al Jazeera Doc Festival 2012. There is still chance to submit a short film for ASFF 2013, which runs 7 – 10 November across the city of York. The final deadline for submissions is 31 May.
Takesada Matsutani: A Matrix at Hauser & Wirth
Entering Hauser & Wirth’s South Savile Row gallery I find I’ve stumbled into a press conference. Takesada Matsutani is taking questions about a piece on the floor just in front of him. The work is a recently enacted performance (or more specifically, the remnants from one) titled Hauser & Wirth, London and dated 2013. Despite the name, this is neither the first time that this work has been enacted nor the first the place in which it was shown. In every instance of performance the name and date of the work is changed, separating it from all other versions and demarcating it as a unique action in time.
Daniele Tamagni: Global Style Battles, London
Italian photographer, Daniele Tamagni, comes to ArtEco to exhibit a collection of works from 2007 to date. Global Style Battles is a diverse selection of images, celebrating music and fashion in a colourful display of photographic skill. Running 24 May until 22 June, the showcase includes pieces like The Flying Cholitas, Playboys of Bacongo, Havana Glam and Afrometal. A street photographer, Tamagni has traveled to places as exotic as Africa and Cuba.
An unparalleled cinematic experience, All I Can is a stunning exploratory film that compares the trials of big mountain skiing to the challenges of global climate change. Shot on six continents over two years, the world’s best skiers deliver inspirational performances while ground-breaking cinematography expands our vision of the natural world. This production featured in Aesthetica Short Film Festival (ASFF) 2012 as part of the Experimental Films series. There is still chance to submit a short film for ASFF 2013, which runs 7 – 10 November across the city of York. The final deadline for submissions is 31 May.JP, Auclair Street Segment from All.I.Can, Short Film from ASFF