Film Screening: Experimental Animation in the Era of Women’s Liberation

Event Details

In tandem with our current exhibition “Honey, You’re a Wonderful Model: Maria Lassnig’s Animated Films,” the Art Center will present a screening of nine short films made between 1970 and 1980. Curated and introduced by Associate Curator Ashton Cooper, the artists presented in these films worked in a range of contexts — from New York to Los Angeles and many places in between — and they all used the medium of animation to expand the forms and subjects of experimental film. Many of the films are incisive yet humorous self-portraits that investigate what it means to live, work, and love in a body labeled female.

Doris Chase (1923-2008), Rosalind Schneider (1932-2024), and Olga Spiegel (born 1943) were all members of Women/Artist/Filmmakers, Inc. alongside Maria Lassnig in New York in the 1970s. Maureen Selwood (born 1946) and Cindy Sherman (born 1954) were also living and working in the city at the same time. Mary Beams (born 1945) made her films in Boston where she taught animation at Harvard; Betty Chen (1943-2022) drew “Portraits of a Young Girl” as a student at UCLA in Los Angeles; and Suzan Pitt (1943-2019) lived and worked in Minneapolis.

FILM SCREENING:
Mary Beams, “Tub Film,” 1972, 2 mins, and “Seed Reel,” 3 mins

Doris Chase, “Circles II,” 1972, 8 mins

Betty Chen, “Portraits of a Young Girl,” 1970s, 2 mins

Suzan Pitt, “Crocus,” 1971, 6 mins

Rosalind Schneider, “Abstraction,” 1971, 8 mins

Maureen Selwood, “Odalisque,” 1980, 11.5 mins

Cindy Sherman, “Doll Clothes,” 1975, 2.5 mins

Olga Spiegel, “Alchemy Blues,” 1974, 7 mins

Free; registration required.
Image: Cindy Sherman’s “Doll Clothes” (1975)

We strive to provide live captioning for all events offered in Levitt Auditorium. Due to interpreter shortages throughout Iowa, American Sign Language interpretation is only available upon request. ASL and other accommodation requests can be made by emailing jfeatherstone@desmoinesartcenter.org.