ART ON SCREEN

Hundreds of films explore the arts and the lives of artists. A pilot project made possible through the generous support of Jackie Hamilton, ART ON SCREEN seeks to broaden an interest in the arts through the creative pairing of films about art and artists with entertaining discussions by notable speakers from the world of art and art history.

We think of ART ON SCREEN as ‘TED Talks’ goes to the movies, combining great films with engaging and entertaining speakers, in order to appeal not only to art aficionados but also to those who find the art world a bit intimidating or mystifying.

ART ON SCREEN was developed in consultation with Stuart Horodner, director of the University of Kentucky Art Museum and Leah Kolb, founder of 2nd Story, a curatorial space in downtown Lexington.

MAESTRA + MÉLISSE BRUNET

THU, MAY 9 @ 7:15PM | $15 ($12 Members) | TICKETS

"Bracing and inspiring." —The Hollywood Reporter

 "A riveting look at the challenges and triumphs experienced by five contestants competing in the all-female La Maestra competition for classical orchestra conductors. The musicianship is excellent, but the human stories have more impact." —Culture Mix

In March 2022, 14 women gathered in Paris to show the world the singular talent that unites them and which, for far too long, has been considered the pursuit of only men. Mothers, daughters, rebels, leaders — each took to the stage to compete in 'La Maestra', the only competition in the world for female conductors. A mother of twin toddlers from Athens, determined to show her kids anything is possible; a Ukrainian doing all she can to focus on her art and the competition in front of her while Russia invades; a Polish student just starting out; and a French immigrant returning to the city that closed its doors to her many years ago. Personal stories of survival, passion, and perseverance are woven together with the drama and excitement of this one of a kind event created to break yet another glass ceiling for women.

ABOUT MÉLISSE BRUNET

French conductor Mélisse Brunet is the Music Director of the Lexington Philharmonic, the first woman to hold the position. She is quickly gaining attention on both sides of the Atlantic as a “skilled and polished conductor with panache”. Brunet is also the Music Director of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic.

UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS + JEAN DONOHUE
A Film about the Art and Times of Henry Faulkner

THU, MAY 30 @ 7:15PM | $20 ($16 Members) | TICKETS

There’s been much said about Henry Faulkner’s life as a colorful local character, artist, and lifelong friend of Tennessee Williams.  Yet, are we appreciating Faulkner for what is most important? With recent research, we’re finding that Faulkner may be a much more important figure in the larger gay historical narrative. Under the Southern Cross will find Henry’s place in this narrative.

ABOUT JEAN DONOHUE

Jean is a documentary maker, writer, and traveler. Much of her work is about people whose lives, situations, and thinking illuminate a path through the challenges of living in the 21st century. Her work has been seen on The Learning and Discovery Channels, public television stations throughout the U.S., BBC 2 and BBC World Service. Her film The Last Gospel of the Pagan Babies won Best Feature at the Sydney TransGender International Film Festival and is being screened in film festivals around the world. Under the Southern Cross is Jean’s most recent film.

PATERSON + Katerina Stoykova and Frank X Walker

TUE, JUL 9 @ 7:15PM | ON SALE SOON

“Paterson is easily one of Jarmusch's most accomplished films. He portrays the life of the mind and the workings of the creative soul as a kind of secret love affair, a deep, hidden well inside the most ordinary, mundane existence.” —The Philadephia Inquirer

Paterson (Adam Driver) is a hardworking bus driver in Paterson, N.J., who follows the same routine every day. He observes the city and listens to fragments of conversations while picking up and dropping off his passengers. Paterson also writes heartfelt poems in a notebook, walks his dog and drinks one beer in a bar after his shift is over. Waiting for him at home is Laura (Golshifteh Farahani), his beloved wife who champions his gift for writing.

ABOUT KATERINA STOYKOVA AND FRANK X WALKER

Katerina Stoykova is an author, editor, teacher, and translator from Bulgaria. She immigrated to the United States in 1995, publishing several poetry books in English and Bulgarian since her arrival. Her book Second Skin was awarded a grant from the European Commission to be translated and published in English. In 2010 she launched an independent literary press, Accents Publishing. Frank X Walker is an African-American poet from Danville, Kentucky. Walker coined the word "Affrilachia", signifying the importance of the African-American presence in Appalachia: the "new word...spoke to the union of Appalachian identity and the region's African-American culture and history".

PECKER + Guy Mendes and Patrick Smith

TUE, SEP 10 @ 7:15PM | ON SALE SOON

A talented young photographer, who enjoys snapping photos of his satirical, perverted Baltimore neighborhood and his wacky family, gets dragged into a world of pretentious artists from New York City and finds newfound fame.

ABOUT GUY MENDES AND PATRICK SMITH

Guy Mendes, an American artist and photographer, was born in 1948. Numerous galleries and museums, including the UK Art Museum have featured Mendes' work. Mendes has been featured in articles for ARTnews, Burnaway, and Juxtapoz. Patrick Smith is a Lexington-based painter known for his realistic works on paper based on photographs he takes of various friends. These detailed works are informed by the artist's deep interest in the history of representational art, and his process of collaborating with his sitters on their poses, costume, makeup, and lighting.  

SOL LEWITT + Leah Kolb and Stuart Horodner

WED, NOV 6 @ 7:15PM | ON SALE SOON

"Sol LeWitt will help you understand the art it depicts and allow you to appreciate those aspects of it that surpass understanding.” —A.O. Scott, New York Times

The central action in Sol LeWitt, Chris Teerink’s eye-catching and informative documentary about that great American conceptual artist, is the execution of one of his pieces — “Wall Drawing 801: Spiral” — on the interior wall of a vast, bell-shaped room at a Dutch museum.

LeWitt, who died in 2007, believed that an artist’s work was primarily done not with the hands, but with the mind. “The idea becomes a machine that makes the art,” he wrote in his manifesto-ish “Paragraphs on Conceptual Art,” and a large part of his oeuvre consists of instructions, at once precise and enigmatic, for making sculptures, paintings, and drawings that are geometrically complex and visually powerful in ways that surpass understanding.

ABOUT LEAH KOLB AND STUART HORODNER

Leah Kolb is an art historian, freelance curator, and the founder of 2nd Story, a curatorial space in downtown Lexington. Stuart Horodner is the director of the University of Kentucky Art Museum.