Jonas Mekas has always been known as a filmmaker making sketches, notes and portraits.
In the 1990s, he started to exhibit photographic blowups of frames from his 16mm films presenting portraits of his friends cinematically imprinted in his life. Pretty rarely, however, one can see narrative and non-narrative film portraits of Jonas Mekas made by other filmmakers throughout the 20th century. In this first screening we present a few famous portraits of Mekas done by his friends. After the screening, the discussion on the films and the importance of portrait for the American Avant-Garde cinema will follow. Some portraits Mekas made of his friends will be exhibited at the Mekas’ Studio and presented by Sebastian Mekas.
Among Friends: Cinematic Portraits of Mekas
February 12, 3pm at The Mekas’ Studio
The program:
Gideon Bachmann’s Jonas (1968, 32min),
Andy Warhol’s Screen Test: Jonas Mekas (1966, 4 min.),
Takahiko Iimura’s Filmmakers (1969, 30 min),
Bytautė Pajėdienė’s To Talk to the Core of the Heart (Kalbėti tiesiai į širdį, 1971, 10 min),
Ken Jacobs’ Hot Dogs at the Met (2008, 10 min),
Ken Jacobs’ Jonas Mekas in Kodachrome Days (2009, 4 min)
*Special Event Note:
The Monira Foundation offers wheelchair accessible space for this event. Large print curatorial statements and program information are available as you enter the space. They will be made available online after the start of the event. If you have special requests for your visit, we are happy to accommodate. Please contact Anne Muntges anne@monirafoundation.org.