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cinema
Cenni biografici
Jonas Mekas è nato nel 1922 nel villaggio agricolo di Semeniškiai, in Lituania. Attualmente vive e lavora a New York City. Nel 1944, lui e suo fratello Adolfas furono portati dai nazisti in un campo di lavoro forzato a Elmshorn, in Germania. Dopo la guerra studiò filosofia all'Università del Magonza. Alla fine del 1949, l'Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per i rifugiati portò entrambi i fratelli a New York City che si stabilirono nel quartiere di Williamsburg, a Brooklyn.
Due mesi dopo il suo arrivo a New York, prese in prestito denaro per acquistare la sua prima cinepresa Bolex e iniziò a registrare brevi momenti della sua vita. Presto si interessò al movimento cinematografico americano d'avanguardia. Nel 1954, insieme a suo fratello, fondò la rivista Film Culture, che divenne presto la più importante pubblicazione cinematografica negli Stati Uniti. Nel 1958 iniziò la leggendaria rubrica del Movie Journal nel Village Voice. Nel 1962 fondò la Cooperativa dei Cineasti e nel 1964 la Cineteca dei Cineasti, poi divenuta l'Anthology Film Archives, uno dei più grandi e importanti depositi al mondo di cinema sperimentale e sede di proiezioni.
Il film di Mekas 'The Brig' è stato vincitore del premio come Miglior documentario al Festival del cinema di Venezia nel 1963. Altri film memorabili sono Walden (1969), Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania (1972), Lost Lost Lost (1975), Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol: Friendships and Intersections (1990), Scenes from the Life of George Maciunas (1992), As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (2000), A Letter from Greenpoint (2005), Sleepless Nights Stories (2011) e Outtakes From The Life Of A Happy Man. Nel 2007, ha completato una serie di 365 cortometraggi pubblicati su Internet - un film al giorno - e da allora ha continuato a condividere i nuovi lavori sul suo sito web.
Dal 2000, Mekas ha allargato il suo lavoro all'area delle installazioni cinematografiche, esponendo alla Serpentine Gallery, al Centre Pompidou, al Musée d'Art moderne de la Ville de Paris, al Moderna Museet (Stoccolma), al PS1 Contemporary Art Center MoMA, alla Documenta di Kassel, al Museo Ludwig di Colonia, al Museo dell'Ermitage di San Pietroburgo e alla Biennale di Venezia.
Deceduto all'età di 96 anni a New York.
Premi e riconoscimenti
Jonas Mekas ha ricevuto numerosi premi e riconoscimenti da vari enti tra cui il New York State Council on the Arts, la Rockefeller Foundation, la National Endowment for the Arts, la Albright Knox Gallery e la Long Wharf Theatre Foundation, ed è membro dell'American Center of PEN e dell'American Academy of Motion Picture Arts.
1962 Grand Prize awarded to GUNS OF THE TREES at the Porretta Terme Film Festival
1964 Grand Prize (Documentary) awarded to THE BRIG at the Venice Film Festival
1966 Gold Medal, Philadelphia College of Art, "for the devotion, passion, and selfless dedication to the rediscovery of the newest art"
1977 Guggenheim Fellowship
1989 Creative Arts Award, Brandeis University
1992 Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, Ministry of Culture, France
Mel Novikoff Award, San Francisco Film Festival
1995 Lithuanian National Award
1996 Special Tribute, New York Film Critics Circle Award
Doctor of Fine Arts, Honoris Causa, Kansas City Art Institute
1997 Pier Paolo Pasolini Award, Paris
International Documentary Film Association Award, Los Angeles
Governors Award, Skohegan School of Painting and Sculpture
Doctor of Fine Arts, Honoris Causa, Universitatis Vytauti Magni, Lituania
2000 Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, Ministry of Culture, France
2006 REMINISCENCES OF A JOURNEY TO LITHUANIA added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress
Directors Guild of America Award
2007 Los Angeles Film Critics Association awards special citation for "contribution to film art"
Special Award from the Roswitha Haftmann Foundation, Zürich
2008 Baltic Cultural Achievement Award
Austrian Decoration of Honor for Science and Art (Õsterreichische Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft und Kunst)
2010 Life Achievement Award at the second annual Rob Pruitt's Art Awards
2011 George Eastman Honorary Scholar Award
2012 'Carry Your Light and Believe' Award, Ministry of Culture, Lithuania
2013 Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, Ministry of Culture, France
Francis J. Greenburger Award
2015 Yoko Ono Courage Award
2017 Elected member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts
Elenco delle esibizioni
1983 Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo
1992 Galerie National du Jeu de Paume, Paris
agnès b. Galerie du Jour, Paris
Still Gallery, Edinburgh
Luarence Miller, New York
Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo
agnès b. Galerie du Jour, Paris
1997 Madrid Art Fair
Museum of Contemporary Art, Vilnius
1998 "Le Printemps de Cahors," Musée de Cahors Henri-Martin
Gandy Gallery, Prague
1999 Susan Inglett Gallery, New York
Pupelis Gallery, Obeliai, Lithuania
agnès b. Galerie du Jour, Paris
2000 "La Beautè" festival, Avignon. Films and installation
"Laboratorium," Antwerp
"Voilà," Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
agnès b Galerie du jour, FIAC art fair, Paris
2002 Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris
Documenta 11, Kassel
2003 "Jonas Mekas: A Camera for Jonas," Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
Utopia Station Pavilion, Venice Biennale. Installation
"Dedication to Fernand Léger," Museum of Contemporary Art, Vilnius
Sideshow Gallery, Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Frozen film frames
Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris. Frozen film frames
"Fables de l'Identité," Centre National de la Photographie, Paris. Frozen film frames
2005 "Farewell to Soho," Moderna Museet, Stockholm
"Fragments of Paradise," Maya Stendhal Gallery, New York
"As I Was Moving Ahead," representing Lithuania at the 51st edition of the Venice Biennale
2006 "Destruction Quartet," Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney
"Onestar Stop," Galerie Erna Hécey, Brussels
"The Expanded Eye," Kusthalle Zürich
Baltic Art Center, Visby
Hirshhorn Museum, Washington D.C.
"To New York with Love," Gallery Toki no Wasuremono, Tokyo
"He Stands in the Desert Counting the Seconds of his Life," Tamayo Contemporary Art Museum, Mexico City.
"The Diary Film," Göteborgs Konsthall, Sweden
"It All Comes Back Now in Glimpses," Sketch Gallery, London
"Brief Glimpses of Beauty," Mead Gallery, Warwick Arts Center, UK
Centrum Sztuki Współczesnej Zamek Ujazdowski, Warsaw
2007 "Recent Work," Maya Stendhal Gallery, New York
Serpentine Gallery, London
The Film Gallery, FIAC art fair, Paris
"Jonas Mekas: The Beauty of Friends being Together," MoMA/P.S.1
Jonas Mekas Visual Arts Center, Vilnius
"My Night Life" (with Auguste Varkalis), The Film Gallery, Paris
2008 Fondazione Ragghianti, Lucca
Museum Ludwig, Cologne
2009 "1968," Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Germany
"A Few Things I Want to Share with You, My Paris Friends," agnès b. Galerie du jour, Paris
"The Beast," FIAC art fair, The Film Gallery, Paris
"Destruction Quartet," James Fuentes Gallery, New York
"1989," Kunsthalle Wien
"Jonas Mekas," Gallery Toki no Wasuremono, Tokyo
"To New York with Love," Bas Fisher Invitational, Miami
"Destruction Quartet," Kings County Biennial, Brooklyn
2010 "Cassis," James Fuentes Gallery, New York Armory Show
The Brucennial, New York
"To New York with Love," James Fuentes Gallery, New York
2011 "Musique Plastique," agnès b. Galerie du jour, Paris
agnès b. Howard Street boutique, New York
"This Side of Paradise," agnès b. Rue du Jour boutique, Paris
2012 "Portraits: Jonas Mekas and Robert Polidori," Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York
"Musique Plastique," agnès b. Howard Street boutique, New York
"The 365 Day Project," 2B Gallery, Budapest
"Reminiszenzen aus Deutschland," Stadtmuseum, Wiesbaden
"Prisiminimai iš Vokietijos," Jonas Mekas Visual Arts Center, Vilnius
"Images out of Darkness," James Fuentes Gallery, New York
Serpentine Gallery, London
"The 365 Day Project," Centre Pompidou, Paris
2013 DOX Centre for Contemporary Art, Prague
MUAC, Mexico City
"I Lift My Glass of Wine to You, My Vienna Friends!," Krinzinger Projekte, Vienna
Paris Photo L.A., Deborah Colton Gallery, Los Angeles
"Outlaw: New Works," Microscope Gallery, Brooklyn
agnès b. Marseille
"The Sixties Quartet," KIASMA, Helsinki
"Let Me Introduce Myself, My Russian Friends!" State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg
"Jonas Mekas: In Praise of the Ordinary," The Phi Centre, Montreal
"Jonas Mekas / The Fluxus Wall," Bozar Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels
"Life Goes On... I Keep Singing," Deborah Colton Gallery, Houston
2014 "Jonas Mekas: One Man Show," Cēsis Arts Festival, Latvia
"365 Day Project," ZKM, Karlsruhe
2015 "Frozen Film Frames: Portraits of Filmmakers," Schnitzer Museum of Art, Eugene, Oregon
Internet Saga Pavilion, Venice, Italy
"All These Images, These Sounds," A Palazzo Gallery, Brescia, Italy
2016 “Let Me Introduce Myself,” Nina Johnson Gallery, Miami
2017 Documenta 14, Athens and Kassel
“I Sing I Celebrate,” La Neomudéjar, Madrid
Boo-Hooray Summer Rental, Montauk
Filmografia
Cup/Saucer/Two Dancers/Radio (1965/1983), 23 min.
Guns of the Trees (1962), 75 min.
Film Magazine of the Arts (Summer, 1963), 20 min.
The Brig (1964), 68 min.
Award Presentation to Andy Warhol (1964), 12 min.
Report from Millbrook (1965/ 1966), 12 min.
Walden (Diaries, Notes, and Sketches), (filmed 1964-1968, edited 1968-69), 3 hrs.
Hare Krishna (1966), 4 min.
Notes on the Circus (1966), 12 min.
Cassis (1966), 4 min.
The Italian Notebook (1967), 15 min.
Time and Fortune Vietnam Newsreel (1968), 4 min.
Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania (1971-1972), 82 min.
Lost Lost Lost (1976), 2 hrs. 58 min.
In Between: 1964-8 (1978), 52 min.
Notes for Jerome (1978), 45 min.
Paradise Not Yet Lost (aka Oona's Third year) (1979), 96 min.
Self-Portrait (1980), 20 min., video
Street Songs (1966/1983) 10 min.
Erik Hawkins: Excerpts from "Here and Now with Watchers"/Lucia Dlugoszewski Performs (1963/1983), 6 min.
He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life (1969/1985), 2 h. 30 min.
Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol (1990), 35 min.
A Walk (1990), 58 min., video
Mob of Angels: Baptism (1990), 61 min., video
Mob of Angels at St. Ann (1991), 60 min, video
Dr. Carl G. Jung or Lapis Philosophorum (1991), 29 min.
Quartet Number One (1991) 8 min.
Zefiro Torna or Scenes from the Life of George Maciunas (1992), 34 min.
The Education of Sebastian or Egypt Regained (1992), 6 h. video
Imperfect 3-Image films (1995), 6 min.
On My Way to Fujiyama (1995), 25 min.
Happy Birthday to John (1996), 24 min.
Cinema is Not 100 Years Old (1996), 4 min., video
Memories of Frankenstein (1996), 95 min.
Letters to Friends (1997), 1 h. 28 min., video
Birth of a Nation (1997), 85 min.
Symphony of Joy (1997), 1 h. 15 min.
Scenes from Allen's Last Three Days on Earth as a Spirit (April 1997), 67 min., video
Letter from Nowhere -- Laiškai iš niekur N.1 (1997), 75 min., video [in lituano]
Song of Avignon (1998), 5 min.
Laboratorium Anthology (1999), 63 min., video
This Side of Paradise (1999) 35 min., 16 mm
Notes on the Factory (1999) 64 min., video
Notes on Film-Maker's Cooperative (1999), 40 min., video
Autobiography of a Man Who Carried his Memory in his Eyes (2000) 53 min., video
As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (2000) 4 h. 48 min.
Mozart & Wien and Elvis (2000) 3 min.
Silence, Please (2000), 6 min., video
Requiem for a Manual Typewriter (2000) 19 min., video
Remedy for Melancholy (2000) 20 min., video
Letter to Penny Arcade (2001), 14 min. 33 sec., video
Ein Märchen (2001) 6 min., video
Ar Buvo Karas? (2002), 2 h. 28 min.
Mysteries (1966/2002) 34 min.
Williamsburg, Brooklyn (1949/2002) 15 min.
Travel Songs 1967-1981 (2003) 28 min.
Letter from Greenpoint (2004) 80 min., video
Notes on Utopia (2003-5) 55 min., video
Father and Daughter (2005), 4 min. 30 sec., video
Notes on an American Film Director at Work: Martin Scorsese (2005), 1h 20 min.
Scenes from the Life of Hermann Nitsch (2005), 58 min., film e video
First Forty (2006). Quaranta corti, utilizzando materiali di film precedenti, rieditati appositamente per internet e installazioni.
365 Day Project (2007). 365 cortio, uno per ogni giorno del calendario 2007.
Lithuania and the Collapse of the USSR (2008), 4 h. 49 min., video
I Leave Chelsea Hotel (2009), 4 min.
Sleepless Nights Stories (2011), 114 min.
My Paris Movie (2011), 2 h. 39 min.
My Bars Bar Movie (2011), 86 min.
Correspondences: José Luis Guerin and Jonas Mekas (2011), 99 min.
Re: George Maciunas and Fluxus (2011), 87 min.
Mont Ventoux (2011), 3 min.
Happy Easter Ride (2012), 18 min.
Reminiszenzen aus Deutschland (2012), 25 min.
Out-takes from the Life of a Happy Man (2012), 68 min.
Scritti di Jonas Mekas
Knyga Apie Karalius ir Žmones, Tubingen, 1947 [in Lithuanian].
Movie Journal, Macmillan, 1972: Japanese edition, 1975. Spanish edition, 1976; edizione francese, 1992.
Three Friends: John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and George Maciunas, Tokyo, 1990 [in giapponese]; Lithuanian edition, Vilnius, 1998.
Laiškai iš niekur, Vilnius, 1997 [in lituano].
Just Like A Shadow, testo di Jerome Sans, frame di Jonas Mekas, Steidl, Göttingen, 2000.
Declarations de Paris, Editions Paris Expérimental, 2001 [in francese e inglese].
As I Was Moving Ahead..., Editions Kinoshita, Tokyo, 2002 [in giapponese]. Testo e narrazione dal film.
Fluxfriends (edizione francese di Three Friends: John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and George Maciunas), Centre Georges Pompidou, 2002.
Artist Book, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 2002.
Entretiens avec Jonas Mekas, Editions Paris Expérimental, 2006.
Anecdotes, translated by Jean-Luc Mengus, SCALI, Paris, 2007 [in French].
To Petrarca, Editions Dis Voir, Paris, 2009 [edizioni in inglese e francese]
Articles on cinema in Film Culture, Sight & Sound, Bianco e Nero, The New York Times, Cahiers du Cinema, Isskustvo Kino, etc.
Poesie
Semeniškių Idilės, edizione lituana, Žvilgsniai, Kassel, 1948; Japanese edition, Tokyo, 1996; edizione lituana ampliata, Vilnius, Baltos Lankos 1997.
Gėlių Kalbėjimas, Chicago, 1961 [in lituano].
Pavieniai Žodžiai, edizione lituana, Chicago, 1967; Japanese edition, Tokyo, 1996.
Poezija, Vilnius, Vaga, 1971 [in lituano].
Reminiscensijos, New York, Fluxus, 1972 [in lituano].
Dienoraščiai, New York, Žvilgsniai, 1985 [in lituano].
There is No Ithaca (English edition of Semeniškių Idilės and Reminiscensijos), tradotto da Vyt Bakaitis, Black Thistle Press, New York, 1996.
Dienų Raštai, Vilnius, 1998 [in lituano].
Žmogus Be Vietos (edizione lituana di I Had Nowhere to Go), Baltos Lankos, 2000.
Poezija, Lietuvos Rašytojų Sąjungos Leidykla, Vilnius, 2002 [in Lituano].
Daybooks 1970-1972 (edizione bilingue di Dienų Raštai), translated by Vyt Bakaitis, Portable Press, Brooklyn, 2003.
Žodžiai ir Raidės, Baltos Lankos, Vilnius, 2007 [in Lituano].
Idylls of Semeniškiai (edizione bilingue), tradotta da Adolfas Mekas, Hallelujah Editions, 2007.
Diari
I Had Nowhere to Go: Diaries, 1944-1954, Black Thistle Press, New York, 1991.
Zefiro Torna or Scenes From the Life of George Mačiunas, Arthouse, New York, 1998.
Žmogus Be Vietos (edizione lituana di I Had Nowhere to Go), Baltos Lankos, 2000.
Lettres de nulle part (edizione francese di Laiškai iš niekur, translated by Marielle Vitureau), Paris Expérimental, 2003.
Je n'avais nulle part où aller (edizione francese di I Had Nowhere to Go), P.O.L, Paris, 2004.
My Night Life (edizioni inglese, italiana, lituana e francese), illustrato da Auguste Varkalis, Baltos Lankos, Vilnius, 2006.
Ningún lugar adonde ir (edizione spagnola di I Had Nowhere to Go, tradotto da Leonel Livchits), Caja Negra, Buenos Aires, 2008.
Cataloghi
Jonas Mekas, Hara Museum of Contempory Art, Tokyo, 1983.
Jonas Mekas, Galerie nationale du Jeu de paume, Paris, 1992.
Jonas Mekas: Films immobiles, une celebration, Galerie du Jour, Paris, 1996.
Jonas Mekas: Frozen Film Frames, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, 1996 [in giapponese].
Sustabdytos akimirkos, Contemporary Art Museum, Vilnius, 1997.
Jonas Mekas: This Side of Paradise, Galerie du Jour, Paris, 1999.
Jonas Mekas: Coversations, Letters, Notes, Misc. Pieces, edito da Liutauras Psibilskis, pubblicato dal Lithuanian Art Museum in occasione della Biennale di Venezia, 2005.
The Diary Film/Dagboksfilmen, edited by Liutauras Psibilskis, Moderna Museet, Stokholm, 2005.
The Avante-garde from Futurism to Fluxus, Jonas Mekas Visual Arts Center, Vilnius, 2007 [edizioni in inglese e lituano].
Jonas Mekas, Fondazione Ragghianti, Lucca, Italy, 2008 [in Italian].
Jonas Mekas, published by Koenig Books, in occasione dell'esibizione "Jonas Mekas" al Museo Ludwig, Cologne, 2008 [in English and German].
A Few Things I Want to Share with You, My Paris Friends, Galerie du Jour, Paris, 2009.
Scritti su Jonas Mekas
Alberto Arbasino, Entre el underground y el off-off, Anagrama, Barcelona, 1970.
Judith E. Briggs, Jonas Mekas (Filmmakers filming monograph), Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1980.
David James, To Free the Cinema: Jonas Mekas and the New York Underground, Princeton University Press, 1992.
Pip Chodorov, Christina Lebrat, Le Livre de Walden, Editions Paris Expérimental, Paris, 1997.
Jonas Mekas: Frozen Film Frames, Photo-Planete, Tokyo, 1997 [in Japanese].
Pip Chodorov, Patrice Rollet, Lost Lost Lost, Editions Paris Expérimental, 2000. [in francese e inglese].
Saggi e interviste
Alan Levy, "Voice of the Underground Cinema," The New York Times Magazine, September 19, 1965.
Calvin Tomkins, "All Pockets Open," New Yorker profile, January 6, 1973.
Scott MacDonald, "Interview With Jonas Mekas," October N. 29, Summer 1984.
Jerome Sans, "An Interview with Jonas Mekas," Just Like a Shadow, Steidl, 2000.
Calendario retrospettiva
- 03/5: Travel Songs
- 10/5: He Stands in the Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life
- 13/5: Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania
- 17/5: As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
Sottotitoli già presenti in archivio
- This Side of Paradise
Messaggio modificato da JulesJT il 17 May 2020 - 06:48 PM
