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"Julian Schnabel: Art and Film” at the AGO
Text and selected photos © Linda Dawn Hammond, with additional photos courtesy of the artist and AGO
Waiting for Julian Schnabel. Who is tardy but that's OK because I hate getting up early, was also late, and frankly can't fathom why any artist would schedule a press conference before noon. We're all there to attend a "sneak peek' offered by the AGO in Toronto- an exclusive advance glance of their upcoming exhibition, "Julian Schnabel: Art and Film," and an opportunity to meet the famed American artist and filmmaker in person.
Journalists warn each other not to ask any questions which could set him off, as he will undoubtedly leave, thus ruining it for everyone. No criticisms or "stupid comments" , only fawning permitted. No-one wants to become the next "Robert Hughes", a well-known critic, whom the mere mention of his name to Schnabel will spark the afore mentioned crisis, or another "Jake Chapman", who was infamously challenged to a fistfight following disrespectful comments about the artist. It is actually appalling to watch the majority of press comply, all smiles and glazed eyes fixed on Schnabel, effecting looks of studied intensity as they lap up every proffered word. All it takes to command such adulation is super star status, and Schnabel has managed to achieve this successfully on two fronts- first, Art in the 80s, then as an award winning film director for the past 15 years. I suspect that by now he finds all the deference annoying as well as flattering, and one can understand why he chooses his close friends amongst the similarly rich and famous. The man is known to be enormously wealthy, enormously egotistical, and creates works of art on an increasingly enormous scale in an enormous pink palace he personally designed and decorated. The 170-foot-tall Palazzo Chupi was placed atop an industrial building, much to the initial consternation of his West Village neighbours in NYC. It is magnificent, if you like all things Venetian and Gaudi-esque, and I confess I do!
With the 45 minute delay, the anticipation in the room mounts. The buzz includes such lofty musings as- What will he wear? In spite of his wealth, the corpulent, middle-aged Schnabel (59) now eschews the elegant yet edgy clothing of his youth for the comfort of pajamas (worn in public like Hefner) and sarongs. A startling effect nicely offset with the inevitable beautiful woman dangling off an arm. Men shake their heads- how does a guy dress like that and yet score such babes, they ask, as if the answer isn't glaringly obvious. Money, position and power win the girl every time- or at least, some girls, with lots of lookers to choose from in that pool, and evidently intelligent ones too. Fashion TV was there, presumably for the art, but when Schnabel eventually meandered in they weren't disappointed. He was a study in contrived yet casual disarray - buttoned up plaid shirt, mismatched plaid shorts and drooping 2 toned socks which came up too high over his low-rise "Vans" sneakers. You couldn't help but think- Oh, come on... you have money, and probably a stylist- you didn't just throw this on, you chose this outfit for us! But it worked. We're all talking about it, unlike the more conventional suits worn by the 2 men who introduced him, AGO board member Jay Smith, and David Moos, AGO curator of modern and contemporary art. A catalogue, Julian Schnabel: Art and Film, has been published in conjunction with the exhibition. David Moos wrote the introduction and will also conduct a dialogue with Schnabel about the relationship between painting and film in his practice.
After speeches which established Julian Schnabel's position as “one of the most famous artists in the world today,” (Jay Smith), and emphasized the importance film has always played in Schnabel's work, long before he ventured into that particular medium himself (David Moos), we were taken on a tour of the show, which was still in the process of being mounted. We were escorted by Schnabel, who fielded cameras graciously and avoided questions about any intended meanings deftly, and even read quotes from his catalogue to the rapt audience. At one point the press were abandoned, when Schnabel went “hands-on” and climbing on a scissor lift, began to place his movie posters on the wall with a staple gun, a "moment' that seemed contrived but could be symptomatic of an artist who likes to control all aspects of his creative output.
The exhibit reflects an eclectic range of styles, materials and intentions, understandable as it does represent a professional career spanning 3 decades. In a 2003 interview with Art Forum, he addressed this aspect of his work. "It worried me at first, because it seemed like the works didn't go together, but later I discovered it was a good thing. It wasn't that I couldn't make up my mind. It was just that I was attracted to different things. I wanted to expand what art materials were." Schnabel continued the thread in a “60 Minute” TV interview in 2008, saying, "I probably paint like a jazz musician. I know where to begin but I don't really have necessarily an idea of how the thing's going to turn out..." The AGO exhibition covers Schnabel's work as a painter from the mid-1970s to the present, and features more than 25 key works in various mediums. These include several of the 1979 neo-impressionist broken "plate paintings’, the series which brought him world wide recognition, paintings on velvet (Portrait of Andy Warhol, 1982) and sailcloth (Jane Birkin #2, 1990); monumental 22-by-22-foot canvasses (Anno Domini, 1990); photography and recent gesso-and-ink paintings on polyester. Some pieces are political in nature, such as the 1988 "Jerusalem Gate" and "Palestine Gate", also on display at the AGO.
In one small room, 4 paintings face-off on 4 planes, reflecting upon each other in a convoluted series of connections. On one wall is a self-portrait of the artist. On another, a portrait of his current partner and muse, Rula Jebreal. A third wall contains a painting of actor Gary Oldman, who played a character based on Schnabel in the artist’s first foray into film,"Basquiat". He is depicted in a matador outfit, which references Picasso- an important influence for Schnabel, and whom he once famously and grandiosely compared himself with, saying, “I’m as close to Picasso as you’re going to get in this f------ life,” though I believe at the time Picasso himself was still around. Andy Warhol is on the fourth wall- another mentor, not only artistically, but possibly as an inspiration of art business acumen. He is revealing his wounds, and I thought I saw the figure of a reclining woman within them- possibly his mother, or would be assassin who shot him, or one of the doomed girls from the scene he inhabited? According to Schnabel- none of the above and just my own projections, but I'm not convinced, and besides, art is in the eye of the beholder, as is its inherent meaning.
The scale of the work is often cinematic in scope, as befitting an exhibit which to some degree dwells upon the biggest names in cinema today, either titular, in homage to their style of oeuvre (as example, the 2006 Surfing Paintings series dedicated to Italian filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci) or as representations of movie personalities such as Marlon Brando, Albert Finney, Dennis Hopper, Gary Oldman, Mickey Rourke, Christopher Walken and Jane Birkin.
"The show traces a personal connection to these people who worked in another practice than painting, often on both sides of the camera," says Schnabel. "Film is like a world outside of this world. Painting is like that too. When we are attracted to the imagination of a work, we pick a world that we prefer to live in."
"It has become abundantly clear, as Julian Schnabel's painterly vision has evolved, that cinema has served to germinate his pictorial imagination, inspiring his paintings in diverse and dynamic ways," says AGO curator of modern and contemporary art, David Moos. "Julian Schnabel: Art and Film poses cinema as a connective force, coiling through his entire oeuvre and serving to link together formally disparate work via this shared theme."
Schnabel will appear in conversation with Moos at a public talk on September 15, at 7:15- 8:30 PM in the AGO's Baillie Court. Four of Schnabel's films - Basquiat (1996), Before Night Falls (2001), Lou Reed: Berlin (2007) and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) will screen throughout the exhibition's run. All screenings take place in the AGO's Jackman Hall.
The exhibit is brilliantly timed to coincide with the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival, where Schnabel’s latest movie, “Miral”, will have its North American premiere in mid September. It stars actors Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire), Willem Dafoe (Antichrist), Hiam Abbass (The Limits of Control) and Vanessa Redgrave (Atonement). North American theatrical rights were recently acquired by The Weinstein Company, with release scheduled for later this year. “I am thrilled to be back in business with Julian Schnabel,” stated Harvey Weinstein, Co-Chairman. “This film is truly a challenge for me to take on personally and professionally. It is the first film I am involved in that shows the ‘other side’ of the Israeli / Palestine conflict. As a staunch supporter of Israel I thought this would be a movie I would have a hard time wrapping my head around. However, meeting Rula moved me to open my heart and mind and I hope we can do the same with audiences worldwide.”
“Miral” is based on the novel by Israeli Palestinian writer Rula Jebreal, Schnabel’s current partner. She also wrote the screenplay for the film, which revolves around a real-life orphanage established by a Palestinian woman (played by Abbass) following the 1948 creation of the Israeli state. In an interview with an Israeli journalist in 2008, Schnabel explained, "… it's about Palestinian women under the Israeli state. It's about Hind Husseini who started the Dar El-Tifl orphanage in Jerusalem. It's about a lot of things. It's about peace." The story is set in Jerusalem, in 1948. On her way to work, Hind Husseini (Hiam Abbass) finds 55 orphaned children in the street. She takes them home and gives them food and shelter. Within six months, 55 have expanded to almost 2000, and the Dar Al-Tifel Institute is born. In 1978, at the age of 5, Miral (Pinto) is sent to the Institute by her father following her mother's death. Brought up safely inside the Institute's walls, she is naïve to the troubles that surround her. At the age of 17, she is assigned to teach at a refugee camp, where she is awakened to the reality of her people's struggle. When she falls for political activist, she finds herself torn between the fight for the future of her people and Mama Hind's belief that education is the road to peace. "Miral" was filmed in Israel and Schnabel hopes to use the film as a vehicle for just that. "We need to fix things over there," he told the Israeli reporter before filming. "I'm going to work on it. That will be my next thing. Yes, I'm going to devote myself to try and make things better over there."
One French reporter will be fortunate if she doesn’t end up on Schnabel’s infamous blacklist. I heard from a source that she essentially asked him in a private interview how “his people’ would respond to a film which depicts the Palestinians in a positive light. Schnabel chose not to understand the question. As “his people” now includes his Palestinian partner as well as those who share his particular ethnic background, the question illustrates the barriers of ignorance yet to be overcome. I hope that Schnabel succeeds in his goal- an effort which all people who desire peace and justice in the Middle East can support.
The AGO show runs from September 1, 2010 through January 2, 2011 and takes up the entire fifth floor of the Art Gallery of Ontario's Vivian & David Campbell Centre for Contemporary Art.
Links
Art Gallery of Ontario site, for admission prices and further information. Note that on Wednesday evenings after 6pm, admission to the AGO is free to the general public.
www.ago.net/"; www.ago.net/
“Miral”- Julian Schnabel's film (Trailer)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck96h97y9Vs
Toronto International Film Festival
http://tiff.net/
All photos and text - Julian Schnabel at the AGO © Linda Dawn Hammond / IndyFoto.com 2010, Toronto, August 26, 2010.
Text and selected photos © Linda Dawn Hammond, with additional photos courtesy of the artist and AGO
Waiting for Julian Schnabel. Who is tardy but that's OK because I hate getting up early, was also late, and frankly can't fathom why any artist would schedule a press conference before noon. We're all there to attend a "sneak peek' offered by the AGO in Toronto- an exclusive advance glance of their upcoming exhibition, "Julian Schnabel: Art and Film," and an opportunity to meet the famed American artist and filmmaker in person.
Journalists warn each other not to ask any questions which could set him off, as he will undoubtedly leave, thus ruining it for everyone. No criticisms or "stupid comments" , only fawning permitted. No-one wants to become the next "Robert Hughes", a well-known critic, whom the mere mention of his name to Schnabel will spark the afore mentioned crisis, or another "Jake Chapman", who was infamously challenged to a fistfight following disrespectful comments about the artist. It is actually appalling to watch the majority of press comply, all smiles and glazed eyes fixed on Schnabel, effecting looks of studied intensity as they lap up every proffered word. All it takes to command such adulation is super star status, and Schnabel has managed to achieve this successfully on two fronts- first, Art in the 80s, then as an award winning film director for the past 15 years. I suspect that by now he finds all the deference annoying as well as flattering, and one can understand why he chooses his close friends amongst the similarly rich and famous. The man is known to be enormously wealthy, enormously egotistical, and creates works of art on an increasingly enormous scale in an enormous pink palace he personally designed and decorated. The 170-foot-tall Palazzo Chupi was placed atop an industrial building, much to the initial consternation of his West Village neighbours in NYC. It is magnificent, if you like all things Venetian and Gaudi-esque, and I confess I do!
With the 45 minute delay, the anticipation in the room mounts. The buzz includes such lofty musings as- What will he wear? In spite of his wealth, the corpulent, middle-aged Schnabel (59) now eschews the elegant yet edgy clothing of his youth for the comfort of pajamas (worn in public like Hefner) and sarongs. A startling effect nicely offset with the inevitable beautiful woman dangling off an arm. Men shake their heads- how does a guy dress like that and yet score such babes, they ask, as if the answer isn't glaringly obvious. Money, position and power win the girl every time- or at least, some girls, with lots of lookers to choose from in that pool, and evidently intelligent ones too. Fashion TV was there, presumably for the art, but when Schnabel eventually meandered in they weren't disappointed. He was a study in contrived yet casual disarray - buttoned up plaid shirt, mismatched plaid shorts and drooping 2 toned socks which came up too high over his low-rise "Vans" sneakers. You couldn't help but think- Oh, come on... you have money, and probably a stylist- you didn't just throw this on, you chose this outfit for us! But it worked. We're all talking about it, unlike the more conventional suits worn by the 2 men who introduced him, AGO board member Jay Smith, and David Moos, AGO curator of modern and contemporary art. A catalogue, Julian Schnabel: Art and Film, has been published in conjunction with the exhibition. David Moos wrote the introduction and will also conduct a dialogue with Schnabel about the relationship between painting and film in his practice.
After speeches which established Julian Schnabel's position as “one of the most famous artists in the world today,” (Jay Smith), and emphasized the importance film has always played in Schnabel's work, long before he ventured into that particular medium himself (David Moos), we were taken on a tour of the show, which was still in the process of being mounted. We were escorted by Schnabel, who fielded cameras graciously and avoided questions about any intended meanings deftly, and even read quotes from his catalogue to the rapt audience. At one point the press were abandoned, when Schnabel went “hands-on” and climbing on a scissor lift, began to place his movie posters on the wall with a staple gun, a "moment' that seemed contrived but could be symptomatic of an artist who likes to control all aspects of his creative output.
The exhibit reflects an eclectic range of styles, materials and intentions, understandable as it does represent a professional career spanning 3 decades. In a 2003 interview with Art Forum, he addressed this aspect of his work. "It worried me at first, because it seemed like the works didn't go together, but later I discovered it was a good thing. It wasn't that I couldn't make up my mind. It was just that I was attracted to different things. I wanted to expand what art materials were." Schnabel continued the thread in a “60 Minute” TV interview in 2008, saying, "I probably paint like a jazz musician. I know where to begin but I don't really have necessarily an idea of how the thing's going to turn out..." The AGO exhibition covers Schnabel's work as a painter from the mid-1970s to the present, and features more than 25 key works in various mediums. These include several of the 1979 neo-impressionist broken "plate paintings’, the series which brought him world wide recognition, paintings on velvet (Portrait of Andy Warhol, 1982) and sailcloth (Jane Birkin #2, 1990); monumental 22-by-22-foot canvasses (Anno Domini, 1990); photography and recent gesso-and-ink paintings on polyester. Some pieces are political in nature, such as the 1988 "Jerusalem Gate" and "Palestine Gate", also on display at the AGO.
In one small room, 4 paintings face-off on 4 planes, reflecting upon each other in a convoluted series of connections. On one wall is a self-portrait of the artist. On another, a portrait of his current partner and muse, Rula Jebreal. A third wall contains a painting of actor Gary Oldman, who played a character based on Schnabel in the artist’s first foray into film,"Basquiat". He is depicted in a matador outfit, which references Picasso- an important influence for Schnabel, and whom he once famously and grandiosely compared himself with, saying, “I’m as close to Picasso as you’re going to get in this f------ life,” though I believe at the time Picasso himself was still around. Andy Warhol is on the fourth wall- another mentor, not only artistically, but possibly as an inspiration of art business acumen. He is revealing his wounds, and I thought I saw the figure of a reclining woman within them- possibly his mother, or would be assassin who shot him, or one of the doomed girls from the scene he inhabited? According to Schnabel- none of the above and just my own projections, but I'm not convinced, and besides, art is in the eye of the beholder, as is its inherent meaning.
The scale of the work is often cinematic in scope, as befitting an exhibit which to some degree dwells upon the biggest names in cinema today, either titular, in homage to their style of oeuvre (as example, the 2006 Surfing Paintings series dedicated to Italian filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci) or as representations of movie personalities such as Marlon Brando, Albert Finney, Dennis Hopper, Gary Oldman, Mickey Rourke, Christopher Walken and Jane Birkin.
"The show traces a personal connection to these people who worked in another practice than painting, often on both sides of the camera," says Schnabel. "Film is like a world outside of this world. Painting is like that too. When we are attracted to the imagination of a work, we pick a world that we prefer to live in."
"It has become abundantly clear, as Julian Schnabel's painterly vision has evolved, that cinema has served to germinate his pictorial imagination, inspiring his paintings in diverse and dynamic ways," says AGO curator of modern and contemporary art, David Moos. "Julian Schnabel: Art and Film poses cinema as a connective force, coiling through his entire oeuvre and serving to link together formally disparate work via this shared theme."
Schnabel will appear in conversation with Moos at a public talk on September 15, at 7:15- 8:30 PM in the AGO's Baillie Court. Four of Schnabel's films - Basquiat (1996), Before Night Falls (2001), Lou Reed: Berlin (2007) and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) will screen throughout the exhibition's run. All screenings take place in the AGO's Jackman Hall.
The exhibit is brilliantly timed to coincide with the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival, where Schnabel’s latest movie, “Miral”, will have its North American premiere in mid September. It stars actors Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire), Willem Dafoe (Antichrist), Hiam Abbass (The Limits of Control) and Vanessa Redgrave (Atonement). North American theatrical rights were recently acquired by The Weinstein Company, with release scheduled for later this year. “I am thrilled to be back in business with Julian Schnabel,” stated Harvey Weinstein, Co-Chairman. “This film is truly a challenge for me to take on personally and professionally. It is the first film I am involved in that shows the ‘other side’ of the Israeli / Palestine conflict. As a staunch supporter of Israel I thought this would be a movie I would have a hard time wrapping my head around. However, meeting Rula moved me to open my heart and mind and I hope we can do the same with audiences worldwide.”
“Miral” is based on the novel by Israeli Palestinian writer Rula Jebreal, Schnabel’s current partner. She also wrote the screenplay for the film, which revolves around a real-life orphanage established by a Palestinian woman (played by Abbass) following the 1948 creation of the Israeli state. In an interview with an Israeli journalist in 2008, Schnabel explained, "… it's about Palestinian women under the Israeli state. It's about Hind Husseini who started the Dar El-Tifl orphanage in Jerusalem. It's about a lot of things. It's about peace." The story is set in Jerusalem, in 1948. On her way to work, Hind Husseini (Hiam Abbass) finds 55 orphaned children in the street. She takes them home and gives them food and shelter. Within six months, 55 have expanded to almost 2000, and the Dar Al-Tifel Institute is born. In 1978, at the age of 5, Miral (Pinto) is sent to the Institute by her father following her mother's death. Brought up safely inside the Institute's walls, she is naïve to the troubles that surround her. At the age of 17, she is assigned to teach at a refugee camp, where she is awakened to the reality of her people's struggle. When she falls for political activist, she finds herself torn between the fight for the future of her people and Mama Hind's belief that education is the road to peace. "Miral" was filmed in Israel and Schnabel hopes to use the film as a vehicle for just that. "We need to fix things over there," he told the Israeli reporter before filming. "I'm going to work on it. That will be my next thing. Yes, I'm going to devote myself to try and make things better over there."
One French reporter will be fortunate if she doesn’t end up on Schnabel’s infamous blacklist. I heard from a source that she essentially asked him in a private interview how “his people’ would respond to a film which depicts the Palestinians in a positive light. Schnabel chose not to understand the question. As “his people” now includes his Palestinian partner as well as those who share his particular ethnic background, the question illustrates the barriers of ignorance yet to be overcome. I hope that Schnabel succeeds in his goal- an effort which all people who desire peace and justice in the Middle East can support.
The AGO show runs from September 1, 2010 through January 2, 2011 and takes up the entire fifth floor of the Art Gallery of Ontario's Vivian & David Campbell Centre for Contemporary Art.
Links
Art Gallery of Ontario site, for admission prices and further information. Note that on Wednesday evenings after 6pm, admission to the AGO is free to the general public.
www.ago.net/"; www.ago.net/
“Miral”- Julian Schnabel's film (Trailer)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck96h97y9Vs
Toronto International Film Festival
http://tiff.net/
All photos and text - Julian Schnabel at the AGO © Linda Dawn Hammond / IndyFoto.com 2010, Toronto, August 26, 2010.
posted by Dawn One at 6:56 am
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