AGNES MARTIN: WITH MY BACK TO THE WORLD with KIKI SMITH: SQUATTING THE PALACE previously at Film Forum in New York City


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AGNES MARTIN: WITH MY BACK TO THE WORLD Produced & Directed by Mary Lance USA • 2002 • 57 Minutes	KIKI SMITH: SQUATTING THE PALACE Directed by Vivien Bittencourt & Vincent Katz Produced by Edgar Howard & The Checkerboard Foundation USA • 2006 • 45 Minutes
“My paintings are not about what is seen. They are about what is known forever in the mind.” – Agnes Martin “'‘I’m very careful not to have ideas, because they’re inaccurate,’ the artist Agnes Martin says in Mary Lance’s touching documentary about her, but it’s a lie. Ms. Martin was full of ideas, and she dispenses them engagingly in the course of the film… She talks about her early childhood on the plains of Saskatchewan. And by the end of the film, Ms. Lance has gently led you to connect that comment with Ms. Martin’s signature style of work: broad horizontal bands of subtle hues Her remembrances of her years in New York and New Mexico are lovely to hear, as are her bits of philosophy.” – Neil Genzlinger, The New York Times	“Yang to Martin’s yin, Kiki Smith thrives on the chaos and energy of the city. SQUATTING THE PALACE captures the 52-year-old artist in her East Village studio... Smith is a whirl throughout the film, beringed and tattooed hands constantly sculpting or sketching as she talks.” – Tom Beer, Time Out NY
“DON’T MISS! Two film portraits, shown back to back, of the leading lady of Minimalist painting (Agnes Martin) and the reining queen of American feminist sculpture (Kiki Smith).” – Time Out NY “Film Forum’s pairing of these two documentaries is an inspired study in contrast and complement. Almost hypnotic in her clarity, you’ll be compelled to jot down nearly everything Martin says… Smith, 52, whose work is as thematically and aesthetically opposed to Martin’s as it’s possible to be, is a more elusive presence on screen. In perpetual, almost pathological motion, Smith fills her Lower East Side home with sketches, sculptures, and people in preparation for an ambitious instillation in Venice.” – Michelle Orange, Village Voice Two candid portraits of brilliant artists at work: women who could not be more different, but who share a daunting passion and commitment to their work. The reclusive Agnes Martin (1912-2004), allowed herself to be filmed at her New Mexico studio, producing one glorious canvas after another and reminiscing about life in NYC in the ‘50s when lofts rented for $45/month. Kiki Smith is captured in her Lower East Side home as she fashions drawings, sculptures, prints and furniture for an 8-room installation entitled Homespun Tales, intended for a Renaissance palace in Venice. Born more than 40 years after Martin, Smith’s work has a vibrant energy and eccentricity that speaks of a generation that still loves to break the rules. Kiki Smith: A Gathering, 1980-2005 is on view at the Whitney Museum of American Art through February 11. SQUATTING THE PALACE website Q&A with AGNES MARTIN: WITH MY BACK TO THE WORLD director Mary Lance (Recorded January 12, 2007) Q&A with Kiki Smith and KIKI SMITH: SQUATTING THE PALACE directors Vivien Bittencourt & Vincent Katz (Recorded January 10, 2007) Available at Amazon:
AGNES MARTIN: THE ISLANDS (Paperback) by Agnes Martin	KIKI SMITH: THE VENICE STORY texts by Vivian Bittencourt, Vincent Katz, Kiki Smith

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