KENNETH ANGER
ICONS
MOCA Grand Avenue
250 South Grand Avenue - Los Angeles
13 November, 2011 – 27 February, 2012
This exhibition showcases the films, archives, and vision of Kenneth Anger (b. 1927, Santa Monica, California; lives and works in Los Angeles), one of the most original filmmakers of American cinema. A defining presence of underground art and culture and a major influence on generations of filmmakers, musicians, and artists, Anger's films evoke the power of spells or incantations, combining experimental technique with popular song, rich color, and subject matter drawn equally from personal obsession, myth, and the occult. Complementing the films is an archive of photographs, scrapbooks, and memorabilia from Anger's personal collection that illustrates the filmmaker's unique vision of Hollywood's golden era. The inspiration and source material for the filmmaker's infamous celebrity "gossip" books Hollywood Babylon, (1975) and Hollywood Babylon II (1984), the collection centers on stars such as Rudolph Valentino and Greta Garbo, as well as now lesser-known icons like silent-film actress Billie Dove. The world of the classic studios and the mystique of its major figures radiates throughout the photographs, press clippings, letters, and memorabilia on display, which Anger has gathered across many decades.
ICONS
MOCA Grand Avenue
250 South Grand Avenue - Los Angeles
13 November, 2011 – 27 February, 2012
This exhibition showcases the films, archives, and vision of Kenneth Anger (b. 1927, Santa Monica, California; lives and works in Los Angeles), one of the most original filmmakers of American cinema. A defining presence of underground art and culture and a major influence on generations of filmmakers, musicians, and artists, Anger's films evoke the power of spells or incantations, combining experimental technique with popular song, rich color, and subject matter drawn equally from personal obsession, myth, and the occult. Complementing the films is an archive of photographs, scrapbooks, and memorabilia from Anger's personal collection that illustrates the filmmaker's unique vision of Hollywood's golden era. The inspiration and source material for the filmmaker's infamous celebrity "gossip" books Hollywood Babylon, (1975) and Hollywood Babylon II (1984), the collection centers on stars such as Rudolph Valentino and Greta Garbo, as well as now lesser-known icons like silent-film actress Billie Dove. The world of the classic studios and the mystique of its major figures radiates throughout the photographs, press clippings, letters, and memorabilia on display, which Anger has gathered across many decades.
