In disassociating themselves from the conceptual avant-garde films of the sixties and seventies, artists of the nineties have returned to the settings and stars of classical film genres and to the narrative structure and aesthetics of popular films, without necessarily using the medium itself. These points of reference have brought the aura of Hollywood and fascination with the cinema into contemporary art.
“Moving Images” shows how pictures from the world of cinema are examined for their immediate impact, removed from their context and studied as forms of image and representation. Works which are directly concerned with the topic of film and which cite existing material stand alongside those which have been inspired by the visual language of the cinema.
The reflections of history and iconography of commercial films, their structures and cinematographic language form the basis of the exhibition, which presents key works in this field from the nineties alongside new projects. In addition, some exhibits reflect the institution of “cinema” in its role as a mass medium and its function as a social domain. The exhibition, which can be seen on both floors of Leipzig’s Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst, covers 28 works.
Olaf Nicolai and Fred Gehler, the directors of the Leipzig International Festival for Documentary and Animated Film, have also put together a program of carefully selected art films and cinema films which have had a lasting influence on the images and history of film.
An exhibition catalog is available in the form of an official souvenir program, along the lines of those published for blockbuster films. The catalog has been designed by Alexander Feldmann, the publisher of ‘Kino digital’ magazine. The introduction is by curators Dirk Luckow and Jan Winkelmann, and there are contributions from Thomas Meder, Sebastian Weber and Melita Zajc. A detailed picture section documents the exhibition and the exhibits.
In Cooperation with the Siemens Kulturprogramm.
Catalogue:
Moving Images. Film – Reflexion in der Kunst. München 1999