Video Art Visions: To Barbara, With Love
Godfather of avant-garde cinema Jonas Mekas invites us into his inner circle
Known for his diaristic handheld film and video work, Brooklyn-based Lithuanian filmmaker Jonas Mekas is a pioneering figure of underground cinema. Made up of 16mm footage and reel-to-reel sound recordings, the artist’s work, To Barbara, with Love, a four-screen video installation dedicated to filmmaker Barbara Rubin, is a central part of new exhibition The Velvet Underground: New York Extravaganza at Philharmonie de Paris [March 30 to August 21, 2016; SITE], marking 50 years since the post-punk band first formed.
“ Mekas's footage includes everything from an early performance by The Velvet Underground to intimate gatherings with friends Andy Warhol, Allen Ginsberg and Nico. ”
Shot in the mid-1960s, Mekas's footage includes everything from an early performance by Lou Reed and the gang at the 1966 psychiatrist convention concert—where the artist and original It-girl Edie Sedgwick introduced the band on stage—to intimate gatherings at the Film-Makers' Cinematheque hosted by Mekas for friends from the New York downtown art scene, including Andy Warhol, Allen Ginsberg and Nico.
This footage originally appeared in Mekas's landmark diary films Walden and In Between.
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