Previously at the ICA - Seasons

Jack Smith: A Feast for Open Eyes

7 Sep 201118 Sep 2011

'The only true underground filmmaker' - John Waters

The ICA presents a fortnight of films, events and symposia dedicated to the legendary American artist, filmmaker and actor, Jack Smith (1932-1989).

Working in New York from the 1950s until his death in 1989, Smith unequivocally resisted and upturned the world of accepted conventions, whether artistic, moral or legal. Irreverent in tone and delirious in effect, Smith’s films, such as the notorious Flaming Creatures (1961), are at once wildly camp and subtly polemic. Although best known for his contributions to underground cinema, Smith's influence also extends across the realm of performance art, photography and experimental theatre.

The programme of activity at the ICA looks to map out the breadth of Smith's practicefrom his collaborative film productions to his individual writingsas well as offer a perspective on his legacy in the UK.

Supported by The Edwin Fox Foundation

This event has been organised in collaboration between the ICA, Dominic Johnson and LUX, London with special thanks to Gladstone Gallery, New York

  • Flaming Creatures + Chris Dercon Introduction and Q&A with Jonas Mekas and Dominic Johnson

    7 Sep 2011

    A screening of Jack Smith’s best-known film Flaming Creatures, which was banned at the time of its release, is introduced by Chris Dercon and followed by Jonas Mekas in conversation with Dominic Johnson.

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  • Jack Smith, Untitled, 1958-1962, Copyright Estate of Jack Smith, Courtesy Gladstone Gallery, New York and Brussels

    Normal Love + Live Soundtrack

    8 Sep 2011

    Jack Smith’s Normal Love is screened with a live soundtrack composed and performed by the band Ectopia - filmmaker and performance artist Adam Christensen with Jack Brennan and Vicky Steiri - commissioned by the ICA.

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  • Jack Smith Symposium

    9 Sep 2011

    A symposium exploring legacy of Jack Smith, including presentations by British filmmaker Anna Thew on Smith's influence on UK filmmaking.

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  • Photo: Jack Smith Estate

    Anna La Thew: Whilst Mario Spins

    9 Sep 2011

    British artist filmmaker Anna La Thew presents films inspired by and in the spirit of Jack Smith.

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  • Photo courtesy Penny Arcade

    Penny Arcade: Denial of Death

    9 Sep 2011

    A performance by Penny Arcade, a New York-based performance artist and close friend of Jack Smith.

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  • Photo: Agosto Machado

    Jack Smith Installation and Readings

    10 Sep 201111 Sep 2011

    Jack Smith’s slides of performance documentation are accompanied by music selected by long-term collaborator, John Zorn.

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  • Flaming Creatures

    Flaming Creatures

    10 Sep 2011

    Nothing short of notorious, Flaming Creatures (1963, 45 min) marked a significant moment in the history of postwar American film and culture.

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  • Film Still: Uncle David

    Uncle David with an Introduction by David Hoyle

    10 Sep 2011

    This dark and menacing low-budget feature film explores the more sinister side of sexuality, where the banalities of conversation between an uncle and his nephew are thrown into the realms of the unconventional.

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  • The Legacy of Jack Smith in British Performance Art

    10 Sep 2011

    Drawing upon the legacy of queer performance in the UK as well as the ICA’s influential role in this history, Dominic Johnson and Live Art Development Agency’s Lois Keidan present a programme of performance documentation by British artists inspired and influenced by Jack Smith.

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  • Jack Smith,Untitled, c.1958-1962/2011. © Estate of Jack Smith. Courtesy Gladstone Gallery, New York

    Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis

    10 Sep 201115 Sep 2011

    Filmmaker and former music video director Mary Jordan’s fascinating portrait features Smith’s rare and unseen films and photographs along with audio recordings, acting appearances, and other relics squeezed from Smith’s vaulted archive. If you can't make it to our cinema screenings of this documentary, pick up a copy of the DVD.

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  • Image: Grace Miceli

    Everything

    10 Sep 2011

    Everything returns to celebrate its first birthday in conjunction with 'Jack Smith: A Feast For Open Eyes'.

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  • Roy Cohn/Jack Smith

    Roy Cohn/Jack Smith

    11 Sep 2011

    From one of the seminal theatrical events of the 90s—Ron Vawter's stunning performance piece Roy Cohn/Jack Smith—Jill Godmilow has crafted a dramatically deft, comic and terrifying film diptych of queer-on-queer.

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  • Photo: Jack Smith Estate

    Jack Smith in the Movies

    11 Sep 2011

    Three legendary underground movies featuring Jack Smith.

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  • No President

    14 Sep 201117 Sep 2011

    Smith's third feature film was originally titled The Kidnapping of Wendell Willkie by the Love Bandit in reaction to the 1968 Presidential Campaign.

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  • Jack Smith, Untitled, 1958-1962, Copyright Estate of Jack Smith, Courtesy Gladstone Gallery, New York and Brussels

    Normal Love

    14 Sep 201118 Sep 2011

    Smith's second feature length film derives from his adoration of Maria Montez, the B- movie star best know for her performance in Cobra Woman.

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  • Jack Smith, I Was a Male Yvonne DeCarlo, 1967-70, Copyright Estate of Jack Smith, Courtesy Gladstone Gallery, New York and Brussels

    Jack Smith Short Films

    15 Sep 201118 Sep 2011

    A selection of recently restored rare short films by Jack Smith screened on 16mm.

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  • Photo: Agosto Machado

    Flaming Days in a Rented World: Recent commissions inspired by Jack Smith

    17 Sep 2011

    A selection of recent commissioned films from the recent Jack Smith exhibition at Barbara Gladstone Gallery in New York and the Arsenal - Institute for Film and Video Art and Hebbel-am-Ufer (HAU) Theatre series Live Film! Jack Smith! in Berlin.

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When

E.g., 02-08-2021
E.g., 02-08-2021