translated and summarized by: Liz Wollner-Grandville,
250808: Kunsthalle Wien: Derek Jarman – Brutal Beauty
Kunsthalle Wien: Derek Jarman – Brutal Beauty
Julien’s Jarman
One of the quotes included in Derek Jarman’s film “Blue” is: "the image is a prison of the soul”. Scratching the screen as if it were a prison wall, taking picture series apart and placing the unexpected in between, challenging the prison of the soul with every blink of the eye: Derek Jarman’s (1942 – 1994) art is a depressive firework, a celebration of homosexual identity and sexuality, romantic anti-Thatcherism. Imagine Van Gogh’s blue “Prisoners exercising” as a House party during the last 80s.
Derek Jarman studied art and painted until his early AIDS death, but it was his filmmaking talent that made him famous. His portraits of Caravaggio (1986) and Wittgenstein (1993) are legendary. The visually stunning poetics of “The Last of England”, in which he attempted to get even with the conservative-neoliberal model Thatcher, influenced many artists.
Among them the filmmaker and artist Isaac Julien. He curated the exhibit and also contributed some of his own works. Julien’s documentary “Derek” (2008) originated from an interview with Jarman, based on the text and sound of Tilda Swinton, one of Jarman’s favourite actresses, and uses original cuttings form Jarman’s films. The exhibit is arranged around this film and Jarman’s last movie “Blue”. Jarman’s movies are presented in a dark hall with ten flat screens, and the onlooker is left with no choice but to watch the entire spectrum. Naturally this type of presentation does not allow concentrating on a single film. However, the exhiibit's goal of emphasizing the closeness of painting and filmmaking is definitely achieved.
Kunsthalle Wien
1070 Vienna, Museumsplatz 1, until 05. 10. 2008
www.kunsthallewien.at
250808
Kunsthalle Wien Museumsquartier
1070 Wien, Museumsplatz 1
Tel: +43 1 521 89-0
Email: office@kunsthallewien.at
http://www.kunsthallewien.at
Öffnungszeiten: Di-So 10-19, Do 11-21 h
Kunsthalle Wien Museumsquartier
1070 Wien, Museumsplatz 1
Tel: +43 1 521 89-0
Email: office@kunsthallewien.at
http://www.kunsthallewien.at
Öffnungszeiten: Di-So 10-19, Do 11-21 h