Initial Public Offerings (I.P.O.): New Objects, New Audiences
Tonight, Friday, December 1, 2006 at 7:00 pm at The Whitney Museum of American Art
Martha Colburn's films transform each frame into a delirious, painterly tableau. Her hand-animated 35mm film Cosmetic Emergency (2005), screened as part of the Whitney Biennial 2006: Day for Night, shows a disturbing and at times humorous take on pop culture. Colburn's work uses elements of cultural detritus to comment on consumerism, politics, sexuality, and cultural memory. Through a collage of live-action (paint-on-glass) animations, found footage, and documentary filmmaking techniques, her works transcend the traditional confines of narrative filmmaking and succeed in foregrounding the materials of the medium. Martha Colburn was featured in her first New York solo exhibition at the Stux Gallery in February 2006.
Along with an overview of past films, this evening will feature the premier of two new films: Meet Me in Witchita (7 min.), a political fairly tale with a soundtrack by V. Vale, and Home on the Range (9 min.), a destiny manifesto utilizing Wild West/Wild East imagery. A LIVE performance of the soundtrack by Haleh Abghari (soprano) and Nathan Chedoweth (piano) will accompany the film.
For the past five years, I.P.O. has featured salon-style dialogues between some of the most exciting curators, artists, and writers emerging in New York today. In its new season, I.P.O. turns to ways that work can be made and circulated, inviting artists to develop multiples that will be made available--free of charge--to the Whitney's public audiences. |