Related Activities
A range of public programs offered by the National Gallery of Art will provide a rich context for visitors to Looking In: Robert Frank's "The Americans", on view January 18 through April 26, 2009. Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the publication of The Americans—a time capsule of 1950s America on the brink of massive social and political change—this exhibition includes 228 photographs, books, manuscripts, and contact sheets, as well as a short film created by Frank and three large collages to which he contributed.
All programs are free. For more information, call (202) 737-4215, visit the Web site at www.nga.gov, or inquire at the Information Desks.
Elson Lecture
Thursday, March 26, at 3:00 p.m.
A Conversation with Robert Frank
East Building Auditorium
Robert Frank, photographer, in conversation
with Sarah Greenough, senior curator and head of the department of photographs,
National Gallery of Art
Sunday Lecture
January 18 at 2:00
p.m.
East Building
Auditorium
Transforming Destiny into Awareness: Robert
Frank's "The Americans"
Sarah Greenough,
senior curator and head of the department of photographs, National Gallery of
Art
Public Symposium
Robert Frank and the Photographic Book, 1930-1960
Saturday,
January 24, 1:00–5:00 p.m.
East Building Auditorium
Illustrated lectures by noted
scholars, including Stephen Brooke, Martin Gasser, Olivier Lugon,
and Alan Trachtenberg.
Gallery Talks
Looking In: Robert Frank's "The Americans" (50 minutes)
Sally
Shelburne, lecturer: January 28, February 1 and 11, and March 4 and 25 at 1:00
p.m.; March 11 at 2:00 p.m.
Diane Arkin,
lecturer: February 23, 24, 26 and April 3, 6, 8, 13, 15, 17, 20 at 12:00 noon;
April 1, 22 at 1:00 p.m.
Meet at the West
Building Information Desk.
Film Programs
East Building
Auditorium
An American Journey
North American premiere
January 18 at
12:30p.m. (additional screenings in April, times TBD)
Fifty years after The Americans, French filmmaker Philippe Séclier retraces Frank's trip around the U.S. in 1955 and 1956. In his 15,000-mile odyssey through present-day America, using the same unplanned, intuitive approach that Frank pioneered, and working with only a small digital camera, Séclier explores the spirit of the Beat Generation and the impact of The Americans on photography and culture. (2008, 60 minutes)
Fire in the East: A Portrait of Robert Frank
April
1, 2, 3 at 12:30 p.m.
An early
documentary by Philip Brookman, Fire in the East:
A Portrait of Robert Frank presents an intimate view of four decades of
Frank's life, films, and photographs. Footage with Allen Ginsberg, Emile de
Antonio, Jonas Mekas, and Rudy Wurlitzer provides
valuable insights. (1986, 28 minutes)
Robert Frank film series
Saturday, April
18, at 12:30 p.m.
Saturday, April
25, at 1:30 p.m.
The recent works of photographer Robert Frank in moving images are shown on the final two weekends of the exhibition. The program includes, among others, The Present (1996), Flamingo (1997), I Remember (1998), Paper Route (2002), and True Story (2004), and Tunnel (2005).
The Rebel Set: Film and the Beat Legacy film series
This
six-part series surveys important yet seldom seen works by many key personalities
of the Beat Generation, including Robert Frank, John Cassavetes,
Shirley Clarke, Kenneth Anger, Stan Brakhage, Ken
Jacobs, and Jonas Mekas.
Saturday, January
17, at 2:30 p.m.
Beat (Christopher Maclaine,
1958)
The End (Christopher Maclaine,
1953)
Cry of Jazz (Edward O.
Bland, 1958)
Saturday, January
17, at 4:00 p.m.
Pull My Daisy (Robert Frank
and Alfred Leslie, 1959)
The Savage Eye (Bed Maddow, Joseph Strick, Sidney
Meyers, 1959)
Sunday, January
18, at 4:30 p.m.
Shadows (John Cassavetes,
1959)
Bridges-Go-Round (Shirley Clarke,
1958)
Sunday, January
25, at 4:30 p.m.
Short films by
Kenneth Anger, Stan Brakhage, Bruce Baillie, Ken
Jacobs (1953 to 1964)
Saturday, January
31, at 2:00 p.m.
Echoes of Silence (Peter Emmanuel
Goldman, 1965)
Happy Birthday to John (Jonas Mekas, 1972)
Saturday, January
31, at 4:00 p.m.
He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds
of His Life (Jonas Mekas, 1985)
Concerts
The Gallery's 63rd American Music Festival will be presented in honor of Looking In: Robert Frank's "The Americans." Concerts of American music by Frank's contemporaries, including David Amram, who collaborated with Frank and Jack Kerouac in creating Pull My Daisy, are scheduled for each of the Wednesdays in March 2009 in the West Building Lecture Hall. Admission is free, and seating begins at 12:00 noon.
March 4
David Amram,
composer and pianist
Music by Amram
March 11
Peter Vinograde,
pianist
Music by Corigliano,
Flagello, Hutcheson, Laufer,
Ruggles, and Zuckerman
March 18
Jessica Krash,
pianist, and the National Gallery String Quartet
World premiere of new work by
Krash and music by mid-20th-century composers
March 25
New York Chamber Soloists
Music by Berger, Persichetti, Piston,
and Powell
General Information
The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden are at all times
free to the public. They are located on the National Mall between 3rd
and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, and are open Monday through
Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00
p.m. The Gallery is closed on December 25 and January 1. For information
call (202) 737-4215 or the Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD)
at (202) 842-6176, or visit the Gallery's Web site at www.nga.gov.
Visitors will be asked to present all carried items for inspection upon
entering the East and West Buildings. Checkrooms are free of charge and
located at each entrance. Luggage and other oversized bags must be presented
at the 4th Street entrances to the East or West Building to permit x-ray
screening and must be deposited in the checkrooms at those entrances.
For the safety of visitors and the works of art, nothing may be carried
into the Gallery on a visitor's back. Any bag or other items that cannot
be carried reasonably and safely in some other manner must be left in
the checkrooms. Items larger than 17 x 26 inches cannot be accepted by
the Gallery or its checkrooms.
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Press Office
National Gallery of Art
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Landover, MD 20785
phone: (202) 842-6353 e-mail: pressinfo@nga.gov
Deborah Ziska
Chief of Press and Public Information
(202) 842-6353
ds-ziska@nga.gov
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