Exhibition Gallery Guide
Mark Lewis
Howlin' Wolf
31 March - 28 May 2006
INTRODUCTION
by Karen Allen, Curator (Moving Image)
FACT commissioned Canadian artist Mark Lewis to make two major new films, Rear Projection (Molly Parker) and Rear Projection (Golden Rod), which receive their World Premiere here, alongside a selection of other works from the last five years never seen before in the UK.
Lewis uses 35mm film, professional actors, crew and simple filming techniques to undermine the characteristics that define mainstream and avant-garde cinema. By subtly referencing classical motifs and genres (for example, dense foliage to represent sexuality and the combination of landscape and portrait) Lewis weaves connections between the history of art and film, and suggests that the evolution of film and technology are intrinsically linked to other visual cultures.
Lewis turned from photography to filmmaking in the mid 1990's, although photography still plays an important role in his work today (his 'location photographs' are often precursors to completed films). Earlier works, such as Peeping Tom (2000) and Upside Down Touch of Evil (1997) focused on deconstructing cinema history by selecting and re-creating particular elements of well-known films, employing simple shots and techniques.
The work shown in this exhibition, dating from 2001 and culminating with the two new pieces, document a significant shift in Lewis' practice. Glamorous locations have been replaced with observations of everyday situations, actions and places. The focus of Lewis' gaze is now the brutalist concrete structures and council estates found in his London studio's back yard. Both Rear Projection films reveal a desolate Canadian landscape with dilapidated buildings - a far cry from the lush tropical gardens depicted in Jay's Garden, Malibu or the sublime parkland of Algonquin Park (a previous FACT commission for Liverpool Biennial 2002).
Lewis rarely films outside Canada and London, his two homes. However, the works shown here have been made in various urban and rural landscapes in Northumberland and California as well as Ontario and London. These places provide contrasting settings for each of the films, revealing Lewis' interest in the changing seasons and his recurring use of signature props such as trees blowing in the wind. Moreover, these works demonstrate Lewis' preoccupation with the relationships between film, painting and photography and the combination of genres.
GALLERY 1
Rear Projection (Molly Parker)
A filmed portrait of Canadian actress Molly Parker (Titanic and the television series' Deadwood and Six Feet Under) is superimposed on a backdrop of an abandoned restaurant and gas station. Lewis has used the traditional method of studio rear projection to combine the images, a technique commonly used in 1930's and 1940's cinema to 'transport' stars to dangerous or exotic landscapes by filming them in a studio against a backdrop of a previously filmed location. Now outmoded by blue screen technology, this overtly superficial technique highlights the dislocation of time and place that results from making the work in several distinct stages. This is further reflected through the changing landscape from autumn to winter, and the disorienting 'trombone' or 'push and pull' filming technique Lewis has used to give the impression that we are simultaneously moving in and out of the landscape.
Lewis explains his choice of actress for this film as follows:
"I invited Molly Parker to be the actress in this film for several reasons. I felt it was important that the film should depict someone who is recognisable, not necessarily in name, but crucially in terms of style and performance (i.e. she is an actress). In addition, Molly Parker's 'neutral' look has, in my opinion, an uncanny similarity to the way female subjects were often depicted in early modern portrait painting and in turn in the early modern cinema of the 20's and 30's (when rear projection was introduced). This look can be characterised I think as a complex combination of idealisation and individuality, a look that is both universal and unique at the same time." Initial proposal to FACT, February 2005
This piece recalls the traditional combination of landscape and portraiture in film, photography and painting, through a film technique that - Lewis suggests - unwittingly recalls the playful use of spatial composition in paintings such as Jan van Eyck's Arnolfini Portrait or Edouard Manet's A Bar at the Folies-Bergere. Mastered in High Definition (the latest technological innovation in video presentation) using the obsolete technology of studio rear projection, this work suggests that the evolution of film and technology are linked to developments in early modern painting.
The title of this exhibition, Howlin' Wolf is perfectly suggestive of a set for a horror movie. Lewis plays with this sense of anticipation, perhaps a tribute to Hitchcock, which is evident in his other film works where something, somewhere, is almost certainly happening in the background.
Rear Projection (Golden Rod)
Using the same filming technique and shot at the same location as Rear Projection (Molly Parker), but from another angle, Rear Projection (Golden Rod) further explores the disorienting effect of the camera's subtle movement through the landscape with a deadpan aesthetic, akin to the photographs of Jeff Wall or Roy Arden. These haunting images dwell on the slow passage of time, and are reminiscent of childhood summers spent playing in fields and finding places to hide. We are seemingly frozen in time, along with the buildings, immortalised as with Molly in her portrait and unable to escape from the impossible motion imposed upon us. The latter part of the title takes it's name from the Golden Rod flower, native to this area of Ontario.
Northumberland
A camera tracks along the top of a stone wall through a quintessentially English rural landscape, dividing the image into three distinct visual planes which appear at different paces across the surface of the image. The effect appears almost artificial, like a theatre set being pulled across a stage in a number of different sections. This is the first UK film Lewis has made outside London, and although consisting of a single uncut shot, it evokes the process of manipulation found in Rear Projection (Molly Parker).
GALLERY 2
Jay's Garden, Malibu
Jay's Garden, Malibu follows the constant meandering of a camera through a lush, tropical garden. On closer inspection, a number of porn stars can be seen wandering around and Lewis' gaze drifts from the sexual metaphors hidden in the rich foliage to the suggestively dressed actors, and back again. The artist carefully choreographed the scenes, directing the actors and placing bunches of grapes at a key moment of the film as a direct reference to Bacchus, the mythological god of revelry. The colourful Californian landscape (designed by landscape designer to the stars Jay Griffith) provides a stark contrast to the dreary backstreets depicted in Lawson Estate and Churchyard Row.
Lawson Estate
Filmed in London, this static, uncut shot draws the viewer's attention between a shadowy image of two men fixing a rooftop and of a man entering and leaving the frame while he mows a lawn. The mundaneness of this image is suddenly replaced by the man stopping for a moment to cautiously look around, briefly interrupted by a woman and child walking past, before urinating against a wall.
Churchyard Row
The camera rotates around a run down London street corner, keeping a tree as it's main focal point. As the camera turns back on itself, two men are seen leaning against a building. A dog stares back at the camera while a warning is spelt out in graffiti on the fence. Viewers find themselves poised, waiting for something to happen. As with Jay's Garden, Malibu and Lawson Estate, Lewis uses subtle innuendos to build suspense and hint at the hidden underworlds of everyday life.
Credits:
GALLERY 1 - Ground Floor
Rear Projection (Molly Parker) 2006
Super 35mm transferred to video
Courtesy of the artist
Rear Projection (Golden Rod) 2006
Super 35mm transferred to video
Courtesy of the artist
Northumberland 2005
Super 35mm transferred to DVD
Courtesy of Queen's Hall Arts, Tynedale Council
GALLERY 2 - 1st Floor
Churchyard Row 2003
Super 35mm transferred to DVD
Courtesy of the artist
Lawson Estate 2003
Super 16mm transferred to DVD
Courtesy of the artist
Jay's Garden, Malibu 2001
Super 35mm transferred to DVD
Courtesy of Musee d'Art Moderne
Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg
Media Lounge - Ground Floor
Human Computer Interaction (HCI)
Simon Poulter, Josh Nimoy, Caen Botto
31 March - 28 May 2006
Further information
HCI Gallery Guide
Rear Projection (Molly Parker) and Rear Projection (Golden Rod) were commissioned by FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology) in partnership with the British Film Institute and Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporaneo. Funded by Film London through the London Artists' Film and Video Awards and Arts Council England. The exhibition at FACT is supported by the Canadian High Commission, London.
EXHIBITION PUBLICATION
A fully illustrated publication with essays by Philippe-Alain Michaud, Laura Mulvey and Michael Rush is available to buy at FACT.
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OTHER EXHIBITIONS:
Human Conmputer Interaction (HCI)
31 March - 28 May
RELATED EVENTS:
Saturday Workshop for young people (14 - 17 year olds)
Saturday 08 April
1.00pm - 4.00pm
Event information
Mark Lewis in Conversation with Laura Mulvey and Philippe-Alain Michaud
Wednesday 26 April
6.30pm - 8.30pm
Event information
Related Film programme
The Man who Knew too Much (U)
Monday 03 April
The Red Desert (Il Deserto Rosso) (PG)
Monday 17 April
An American in Paris (U)
Monday 24 April
Gone to Earth (PG)
Monday 01 May
FREE Group Tours
FACT offers FREE group tours of exhibitions and the building. Tours must be booked in advance.
Please contact Laura Yates
Exhibition supported by:
Exhibition Preview event supported by:
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