Release Date: January 17, 2002

National Gallery of Art Premieres Two Acclaimed Documentaries on the Contemporary American Art World

Washington, DC -- Two new films, Art City: Simplicity and Art City: A Ruling Passion, will have their world premieres at the National Gallery of Art on Sunday, 3 February 2002, at 5:00 p.m. in the East Building Auditorium. Art historian Robert Rosenblum described the films as "A perfect time-capsule of the American art world as it moves into the twenty-first century." After the screening, artist Richmond Burton will lead a discussion with filmmakers Chris Maybach and Paul Gardner.

The films are each one hour long and complete a film trilogy, the first installment of which, Art City: Making it in Manhattan, had its premiere at the National Gallery of Art in 1996. In Art City: Simplicity and Art City: A Ruling Passion, Maybach and Gardner travel across the country from East Hampton to Santa Fe and Venice Beach. They capture the milieu and spontaneous revelations of artists, dealers, collectors, and curators along the way.

Art City: Simplicity features renowned art collectors Herbert and Dorothy Vogel in their Manhattan apartment and offers distinctive close-ups of memorable iconoclasts who articulate their aesthetic commitment, from Richard Tuttle and Agnes Martin to John Baldessari and Joan Snyder. Art City: A Ruling Passion focuses on artists such as Louise Bourgeois, Michael Ray Charles, Lari Pittman, and Elizabeth Peyton, whose works express the pain and exhilaration of their personal biography. Culture critic Dave Hickey appears in both films, illuminating the spirit of the times. Enhancing the series is a jazz score by Tom Waite, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Chet Baker.

The Exhibition

The exhibition, Christo and Jeanne-Claude in the Vogel Collection, which opens the day the films premiere, will be on view at the National Gallery of Art, 3 February through 23 June. The show draws its contents from the collection of Dorothy and Herbert Vogel at the National Gallery of Art and presents 61 preparatory drawings, collages, scale models, and photographs that span four decades of the artists' careers.

Related Activities

Special Lecture Program
Conversations with Artists: Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Two Works in Progress--The Gates Project for Central Park, New York City, and Over the River, Project for the Arkansas River, Colorado

Sunday, 3 February
2:00-4:00 pm
East Building Auditorium
Book signing to follow

Gallery Talk
Christo and Jeanne-Claude in the Vogel Collection
19, 24, and 27 February at noon
East Building

Family Activities
Family Workshop: Big Ideas
3 and 17 February, and 3 March
1:00-3:00 pm
Ages 6 to 10

Experience the exhibition Christo and Jeanne-Claude in the Vogel Collection. Families explore drawings, collages, models, and photographs related to the amazing large-scale public works of this creative team. A tour of the exhibition is followed by a hands-on art project. Call (202) 789-3030 to preregister.

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.

For additional press information please call or send inquiries to:

Press Office
National Gallery of Art
2000B South Club Drive
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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