North Star: Mark di Suvero

North Star: Mark di Suvero is a 1977 documentary film about Mark di Suvero that was produced by François de Menil and Barbara Rose. Born in 1933, di Suvero has become one of the most recognized sculptors of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. From about 1975 to 1977, fairly early in di Suvero's long career, filmmaker de Menil and art historian Rose produced this film, which was characterized at the time as "a tribute to the extraordinary work and life of the innovative American sculptor of monumental but delicate constructions." The film shows di Suvero making and installing several of his very large sculptures, and incorporates informal interviews of di Suvero, his mother, and others involved in his career and life at that time. From 1971 to 1975 di Suvero, an American, lived in a self-imposed exile in France in protest of US involvement in war in Vietnam and Southeast Asia, and the filming spans the end of his exile and his return to New York.

דני קרוון

A fascinating journey through the life of Israeli artist Dani Karavan, an irreverent and charismatic creator, recognized worldwide for radically transforming public space with his monumental environmental installations.

I'll See You Again

A group of artists settle in a swamp on the banks of the Indre River. Meanwhile, a voice describes a utopian world.

Art Lives Series: Joan Miro

With his seemingly naïve, symbolic paintings, Joan Miró formed a new artistic language in the 20th century. Brought up in Barcelona, the painter, graphic artist and sculptor was drawn to Paris and, under the influence of the surrealists, developed his unique style and poetic imagery that unite Catalan folk art and fantastic elements. Robin Lough followed the 85-year-old Miró to theatre rehearsals and went to see him in his studio on Majorca. There he met with an amazingly creative and disciplined artist, whose visionary pictures paved the way for abstract expressionism.

Seedbed

“In this legendary sculpture/performance Acconci lay beneath a ramp built in the Sonnabend Gallery. Over the course of three weeks, he masturbated eight hours a day while murmuring things like, "You're pushing your cunt down on my mouth" or "You're ramming your cock down into my ass." Not only does the architectural intervention presage much of his subsequent work, but all of Acconci's fixations converge in this, the spiritual sphincter of his art. In Seedbed Acconci is the producer and the receiver of the work's pleasure. He is simultaneously public and private, making marks yet leaving little behind, and demonstrating ultra-awareness of his viewer while being in a semi-trance state.” – Jerry Saltz (via: http://www.ubu.com/film/acconci_seedbed.html)

Lamp

Short documentary of David Lynch building a lamp.

Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405

56-year-old artist Mindy Alper has suffered severe depression and anxiety for most of her life. For a time she even lost the power of speech, and it was during this period that her drawings became extraordinarily articulate.

Giacometti

The Arts Council commissioned this film to coincide with their major retrospective of Giacometti's work at the Tate Gallery (now Tate Britain) in the summer of 1965. A similar exhibition was held concurrently at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, sealing the artist's reputation as a modern master.

Maria: Não Esqueça Que Eu Venho dos Trópicos

An examination of the relationship between the life and art of Maria Martins, now recognized as one of the greatest Brazilian sculptors, in addition to her engravings and texts. The film reveals the greatness of her work and her boldness when dealing directly with the feminine perspective of sexuality, a transgression that led to attacks by Brazilian critics. In parallel, her life as the wife of an important diplomat and her connection to Marcel Duchamp, in a relationship of mutual collaboration between the two artists.

کوچه پاییز

A docudrama about art and creativity; based on modern art gallery in Tehran and its founder Jazeh Tabatabai.

蒼風の彫刻

A short documentary by Hiroshi Teshigahara about his father, the sculptor Sofu Teshigahara, preparing an exhibition.

The Big Wheel

During the 1980 exhibition of Burden's monumental kinetic sculpture The Big Wheel at Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York, Burden and Feldman were interviewed by art critic Willoughby Sharp. Burden articulates the process of creating The Big Wheel, a 6,000-pound, spinning cast-iron flywheel that is initially powered by a motorcycle, and discusses its relation to his earlier performance pieces and sculptural works. Addressing his motivations and the meaning of this potentially dangerous mechanical art object, Burden discusses such topics as the role of the artist in the industrial world, "personal insanity and mass insanity," and "man's propensity towards violence."

Filamento

The odyssey of the Mayice designers, who had to face to bring an impossible-to-manufacture piece to the Rossana Orlandi gallery, in Milan, in time to be exhibited at the Salone.

Rolanda Polonsky, Sculptor

Enter the imaginative world of acclaimed sculptor Rolanda Polonsky, who had been a resident of Netherne Psychiatric Hospital in Coulsdon, Surrey for 26 years when this film was made. One of the positive aspects of her illness, described in the film as a schizophrenia, is that it "tapped a deep source of mystical vision and human feeling" which finds expression in her work.

The Chola Heritage

The film highlighting the Dravidian temple architecture and bronze sculpture which attained the creative pinnacle during the rule of the Cholas in the 10th and the 11th centuries. Cholas were great temple builders. The temple of Vijayalaya Cholesvara is one of the finest examples of the early Chola style. The temple of Nagesvara at Kumbakonam is remarkable for the sculptures found in the niches of its outer walls. The Brihadesvara temple at Thanjavur is a landmark in the evolution of building art in India.Among several such unique temples, Tribhuvanam is the last important temple belonging to the Cholas. Besides temple architecture,the bronze sculpture of the Cholas holds a unique place in the field of art. One of the most important and famous of all Hindu icons,that of the cosmic dance of the Nataraja is intimately associated with the Chola bronzes.

Mudflat

Years ago, artists would walk around the muck at the edge of the San Francisco Bay in Emeryville, and build loads of sculptures out there on the flats, created from driftwood and found objects that drivers would enjoy as they motored south on the old Highway 17 (known in numerous radio ads as 'Highway 17, The Nimitz'). Grabbing material off someone else’s work was considered fair game and part of the fun, and contributed a kinetic dynamic to the ongoing display. Now the place is a park, and the sculptures are gone, but you can see what it used to be like in this neat and funny documentary by Ric Reynolds, augmented by Erich Seibert’s wonderful musique-concrète/time-lapse sequences. The flashback circus sequence includes Scott Beach and Bill Irwin. Sculptors interviewed include Walt Zucker, Tony Puccio, Robert Sommer, Ron & Mary Bradden, and Bob Kaminsky.

César

In 1971, Jean-Daniel Pollet & Guy Seligmann directed for French TV a documentary about French artist César Baldaccini. It was part of L'invité du dimanche show.

Thomas Schütte - Ich bin nicht allein

Thomas Schütte's work is always about people. His works have gravity and lightness, but they also show damage, power relations, fears, dependencies, evil, weird and beautiful figures. Schütte studied from 1973 to 1981 at the Düsseldorf Art Academy under Fritz Schwegler and Gerhard Richter. Today, he is one of the most important contemporary artists and is represented in all major museums and collections worldwide.

Salzillo

The Spanish sculptor meditates about his life and work

La Turbulence Rodin