San Francisco–based Fraenkel Gallery has partnered with Metrograph to have six of the artists it represents select one film each that will screen at the theater from May 8–17, with select encore screenings to follow.
The collaboration will open with Weems’s selection, No Country for Old Men (2007). In addition to choosing the film, which a release describes as pointing to the artist’s “sustained engagement with power, violence, and the shaping of American mythologies,” Weems will also be on hand for the May 8 screening to introduce the film and to participate in a Q&A with director Joel Coen.
“Fraenkel Gallery Presents,” as the series is titled, dates back to 2024 when the gallery first organized a film festival at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco. “It’s been a wonderful way to bring people together in person while supporting independent cinema, and we’ve been so pleased with the response from our artists and audiences,” gallery director Christian Whitworth told ARTnews in an email. “As a series curated entirely by visual artists, Fraenkel Gallery Presents offers an unexpected look into the interests and influences of artists who love cinema.”
The gallery was looking for a home for the festival as a way to tie in with the pop-up exhibition, “Whipped Cream & Other Delights,” that it is organizing at Ortuzar in Tribeca, which will run from May 9–21. (The six participating artists will also feature in the pop-up exhibition.) The gallery found a partner in Metrograph, with all the proceeds from “Fraenkel Gallery Presents” benefiting the theater.
Inge de Leeuw, Metrograph’s director of programming, said in an email that the theater was “thrilled by the opportunity to collaborate,” adding that the San Francisco festival “showed an ambitious curation of films and artistic influences from some of our most admired contemporary artists. We knew that our Metrograph audiences would be equally as excited as we are to enjoy the Fraenkel Gallery Presents and the dynamic conversations that we’ll be hosting in the coming weeks.”
Some of other films that are part of the series include The Face of Another (1996), selected by Sugimoto; The Naked Kiss (1964), selected by Goldin; and North by Northwest (1959), chosen by Lee Friedlander.
Martine Gutierrez has selected Princess Mononoke for the series.
Courtesy Fraenkel Gallery and Metrograph
Martine Gutierrez, who is known for her photography, has selected the 1997 animated film Princess Mononoke, directed by Hayao Miyazaki and released by Studio Ghibli.
“The immaterial world––the ethereal realm is what matters, and every day we are convinced otherwise,” Gutierrez said in an email. “In Princess Mononoke, the spirituality of the wild is at odds with man-kind’s machine of industry. When exploitation of the land upsets the balance, the spirits of the forest push back to remind us we are all connected.”
New York–based artist Wardell Milan, who mixes photography, drawing, painting, and collage in his works, has selected the 2018 horror film Hereditary.
“I love the film Hereditary for its haunting exploration of familial secrets and the weight of generational inheritance, where trauma and darkness are inescapably passed down,” Milan said in an email. “Hereditary is one of the few horror films that continues to stay with me long after watching.”
The full line-up follows below. More information and tickets on each screening are available at Metrograph.
Carrie Mae Weems Selects
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (2007)
Introduction by artist Carrie Mae Weems and Q&A with director Joel Coen on Friday, May 8.
Martine Gutierrez Selects
PRINCESS MONONOKE (1997)
Introduction by artist Martine Gutierrez on Saturday, May 9.
Wardell Milan Selects
HEREDITARY (2018)
Introduction by artist Wardell Milan on Saturday, May 9.
Hiroshi Sugimoto Selects
THE FACE OF ANOTHER (1996)
Lee Friedlander Selects
NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959)
Nan Goldin Selects
THE NAKED KISS (1964)
Introduction by artist Nan Goldin on Sunday, May 17.
