Michael Blackwood

For his five Cremaster films Matthew Barney's created a multitude of sculptural forms and structures. Recently both the sculptures and the films traveled to museums in Cologne, Paris and New York's Guggenheim. In THE CREMASTER CYCLE: A Conversation with Matthew ...  (more)

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An assessment of the 20th century's best known artist and his vast achievements through the insights and speculations of over a dozen participants. Filmed on the 100th anniversary of Picasso's birth at MoMA, Musée Picasso, Walker Art Center, Museu Picasso Barcelona ...  (more)

The multiple means of making art after the end of illusionism led these artists to create performances, sculptures, earthworks, tableaux, furniture, shaped canvases, and more, using unusual materials. They explore the process of making forms and giving meanings to ...  (more)

In 1943 Herbert and Lotte Strauss made the courageous decision to escape from Germany and almost certain extermination in a Nazi concentration camp. This is a personal account of their dramatic flight, building a new life in the United States, and coming to terms ...  (more)

Late in life, the artist looks back over a career that originated in social realism during the '30s, moved to the center of Abstract Expressionism, and culminated in a return to figuration. Filmed at his retrospective in San Francisco in 1980 and at his Woodstock ...  (more)

In 1982, at the height of the postmodernist adventure in architecture we visit 4 practices: Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, Frank Gehry, Michael Graves and Peter Eisenman – all protégés of Philip Johnson. These innovators rejected the European modernism of ...  (more)

A film essay contrasting the modern metropolis with its "golden age" from 1830-1930, with the participation of some of New York's leading political and cultural figures. Made at a time when the city was experiencing unprecedented real estate development on the one ...  (more)

No understanding of the modern movement in architecture is possible without knowledge of its master builder, Mies van der Rohe. Together with documentation of his life, this film shows all his major buildings, as well as rare film footage of Mies explaining his ...  (more)

This documentary by Michael Blackwood looks at the development and production of Glass' opera Akhnaten. The film follows two productions by the Württemberg State Theater, Stuttgart, and the Houston Grand Opera.  (more)

Tadao Ando, a self-taught architect, proposes an international architecture that he believes can only be conceived by someone Japanese. His architecture mixes Piranesian drama with contemplative spaces in urban complexes, residences and chapels. This film presents ...  (more)

Narrated by the architect himself, Frank Gehry: The Formative Years explores his long standing career and unique eye. The film looks at a number of Gehry's projects from private homes to complex public institutions, all of which echo his experimental style and ...  (more)

"Butoh: Body on the Edge of Crisis" is a visually striking film portrait shot on location in Japan with the participation of the major Butoh choreographers and their companies. Although Butoh is often viewed as Japan's equivalent of modern dance, in actuality it ...  (more)

American composers have long struggled against the momentum of the Western European classical tradition and the prestige it has held in America's cultural life. "I did not want to have any stricture at all, I wanted to be completely free." So spoke Harry Partch, ...  (more)

A look at six young virtuoso composers at the forefront of contemporary music. Featuring: Tan Dun, Michael Gordon, Phil Kline, David Lang, Julia Wolfe, Lois V Vierk, Philip Glass, and Steve Reich. With the participation of the Kronos Quartet, Bang on a Can All ...  (more)

Crewdson is observed and questioned closely during his work on ten new images in as many different sets.  (more)

This documentary explores the creation of the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin as designed by architect Peter Eisenman. Reaction of the German public to the completed memorial is also shown.  (more)

Jeff Wall is one of the most important and influential photographers working today. His work played a key role in establishing photography as a contemporary art form.  (more)

Art historians and critics talk with Philip Guston about his ideas and new work of the 1970's. Filmed during the making of "Philip Guston: A Life Lived."  (more)

Shot in 1959, Michael Blackwood’s first film Broadway Express is a portrait of New York City’s diverse population, as captured in the city’s subways during the evening rush hour and late at night. The film is a portrait of the city through the faces of the ...  (more)