MoMA CELEBRATES BARBARA HAMMER, WITH A MONTH-LONG RETROSPECTIVE OF THE PROLIFIC ARTIST’S EXTENSIVE BODY OF WORK Exhibition Includes the World Premiere of Hammer’s Newest Film, Generations, as well as Her Groundbreaking Experimental Short Films and Documentaries Barbara Hammer September 15-October 13, 2010 The Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters NEW YORK, August 13, 2010— A retrospective of works by experimental filmmaker Barbara Hammer (American, b. 1939) spanning from 1968 to today, including the world premiere of her new film Generations (2010), made in collaboration with Gina Carducci, will be shown at The Museum of Modern Art from September 15 through October 13, 2010. Hammer is renowned for creating the earliest and most extensive body of avant-garde films on lesbian life and sexuality, including Dyketactics (1974) and Women I Love (1976). In the late 1960s, Barbara Hammer was drawn to experimental film as a student at San Francisco State University. During that time she came out as a lesbian, an act that helped to radicalize her approach to directing. Galvanized by the second wave of feminism in the 1970s, she soon became a pioneer of queer cinema. She has since directed more than 80 films, using avant- garde strategies to explore lesbian and gay sexuality, identity, and history, along with other heretofore unrepresented voices. Her 1970s films dealt with the representation of taboo subjects through performance, in the 1980s she worked with an optical printer to explore perception, and in the 1990s she began making documentaries about hidden aspects of queer history. Hammer says, ―It is a political act to work and speak as a lesbian artist in the male dominant art world and to speak as an avant- garde artist to a lesbian and gay audience. My presence and voice address both issues of homophobia [and] the need for an emerging community to explore a new imagination.‖ Barbara Hammer is organized by Sally Berger, Assistant Curator, Department of Film, The Museum of Modern Art. Hammer will speak after the world premiere of Generations and following other films throughout the retrospective, sometimes reading from her autobiography, Hammer! Making Movies Out of Sex and Life (The Feminist Press at The City University of New York, 2010). Hammer’s debut feature film, Nitrate Kisses, will be followed by a panel discussion with Film Studies Professor Maria Pramagiorre and filmmakers Peter Cramer and Jack Waters who also appear in the film (Monday, September 20 at 7:00). Modern Mondays: Hidden Hammer, An Evening with Barbara Hammer will concentrate on her performance, photography, and installation work, and discuss some of the lesser known and hidden aspects of her practice (Monday, October 4, 7:00). Press Contact: D’Arcy Drollinger, (212) 708-9747, [email protected] For downloadable images, please visit www.moma.org/press. Public Information: The Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53rd Street, New York, NY 10019 Hours: Films are screened Wednesday-Monday. For screening schedules, please visit www.moma.org. Film Admission: $10 adults; $8 seniors, 65 years and over with I.D. $6 full-time students with current I.D. (For admittance to film programs only.) The price of a film ticket may be applied toward the price of a Museum admission ticket when a film ticket stub is presented at the Lobby Information Desk within 30 days of the date on the stub (does not apply during Target Free Friday Nights, 4:00–8:00 p.m.). Admission is free for Museum members and for Museum ticketholders. The public may call (212) 708-9400 for detailed Museum information. Visit us at www.moma.org Screening Schedule Barbara Hammer September 15-October 13, 2010 Wednesday, September 15 8:00 Mentors: Hammer Collaborates with Other Women Moon Goddess. 1976. With Gloria Churchman. In this Jung-influenced work, two women search Death Valley for the feminine creative spirit, guided by the moon and mutual respect. New York premiere. 15 min. Still Point. With Florrie Burke. 1989. "At the still point of the turning world, that’s where the dance is." (T.S. Elliot in Burnt Norton, the Four Quartets). 8 min. Two Bad Daughters. 1998. With Paula Levine. Two artists explore art themes related to the infidelity of feminist practice and play as subversive. 12 min. Generations. 2010. With Gina Carducci. Inspired by Shirley Clarke’s film Bridges Go Round (1953), Hammer and Carducci use two Bolex cameras to capture the final days of Coney Island’s Astroland amusement park. World premiere. 30 min. Program 65 min. Followed by a discussion with Hammer, Burke, Levine and Carducci. Also playing Thursday, September 30, 4:00pm. Thursday, September 16 4:00 The Radical 1970s: Coming Out Performance-driven films capture the free-love era, the second wave of feminism, and the West Coast art scene. Sisters! 1974. This film, made by, for, and about women, shows women in nontraditional roles running the machinery of the world. The film includes scenes of the first Women’s Liberation march in 1970. 8 min. Women’s Rites or Truth Is the Daughter of Time. 1974. An autumnal celebration held on ―witches’ land‖ in Northern California, of fall leaves, brooks and bathing, chanting circles, and women’s rites. 8 min. Dyketactics. 1974. Images of women and children romping in nature evolve into an intimate scene between two women. 4 min. Menses. 1974. A humorous look at the trials of menstruation. 4 min. Superdyke. 1975. Piano by Margaret Moore. Over one day, women wearing ―Superdyke‖ t-shirts and carrying Amazon shields overtake San Francisco. 20 min. Women I Love. 1976. A fruit or vegetable provides a metaphor for the filmmakers’ relationships with women friends and lovers. 25 min. Program 79 Min. Also playing Friday, October 1, 7:00pm, followed by a discussion with Hammer and Stephen Kent Jusick , Executive Director, MIX NYC. 7:00 The Radical 1970s: Breaking Boundaries Short films explore women’s sexuality and traditional norms. A Gay Day. 1973. A wedding march turns into a funeral dirge in this anti-marriage statement and satire on lesbian monogamy. 3 min. Psychosynthesis: I Was/I Am. 1973. 7 min.; "X". 1973. 8 min.; Psychosynthesis. 1975. 8 min. This trilogy of films explores self-representation through dreamlike imagery dealing with emotional states. Multiple Orgasm. 1976. A woman masturbates; her orgasms are revealed through her facial and vaginal contractions, superimposed with images of the natural landscape. 6 min. Available Space. 1979. The filmmaker escapes the confines of the frame by pushing the rectangular film screen and the confines of the ―domestic house.‖ 20 min. No No Nooky TV. 1987. A digital exploration of sexuality as a social construction. 11 min. Program 63 min. Followed by a discussion with Hammer. Also playing Wednesday, September 29, 4:00pm. Friday, September 17 4:00 The Great Goddess Moon Goddess. 1976. With Gloria Churchman. In this Jung-influenced work, two women search Death Valley for the feminine creative spirit, guided by the moon and mutual respect. 15 min. The Great Goddess. 1977. A filmed performance piece in which a child, two teens, a mother, and three ―crones‖ spin spirals of birth, death, and rebirth. 25 min. The Lesbos Film. 1981. Shot on the island of Lesbos in the Aegean Sea, this film documents the experiences of a group of feminist students attending the Aegean Women’s Studies Institute. 27 min. Program 67 min. Also playing Saturday, October 2, 4:00pm. 7:00 Self Portraits Schizy. 1968. Hammer’s first film explores the duality of the masculine and feminine. 3 min. Audience. 1982. Hammer records the audience reactions to her films in London at the Filmmakers' Co-op; San Francisco at the Roxie Theater during Gay Pride Week; Toronto at The Funnel; and Montreal, at McGill University. 33 min. Would You Like to Meet Your Neighbor? A New York Subway Tape. 1985. The artist encourages communication among New York subway riders. 13 min. A Horse Is Not a Metaphor. 2008. The story of a woman’s survival against ovarian cancer. 30 min. Program 79 min. Followed by a discussion with Hammer. Also playing Friday, October 1, 4:00pm. Saturday, September 18 4:00 Collaborations Superdyke Meets Madame X. 1976. With Max Almy. Two filmmakers explore their relationship to film and to each other. 28 min. Double Strength. 1978. With Terry Sendgraff. The stages of a lesbian relationship, from romantic love to enduring friendship, unfold through the actions of a trapeze artist and her lover. 16 min. Pools. 1981. With Barbara Klutinis. Shot in the pools at Hearst Castle designed by Julia Morgan, the first woman architect to graduate from the Beaux Arts Academy. 9 min. Generations. 2010. With Gina Carducci. Inspired by Shirley Clarke’s film Bridges Go Round (1953), Hammer and Carducci use two Bolex cameras to capture the final days of Coney Island’s Astroland amusement park. World premiere. 30 min. Program 83 min. Followed by a discussion with Hammer and Klutinis. Also playing Wednesday, September 29, 7:00pm. 7:30 Artist Portraits 1 Resisting Paradise. 2003. This examination of the individual’s role in times of conflict focuses on the friendship and creative artistic output of Henri Matisse and Pierre Bonnard, who lived a sequestered existence in the south of France during WWII, amid an active French resistance. 80 min. Also playing Saturday, October 2, 1:30pm. Sunday,September 19 2:00 Artist Portraits 2 Jane Brakhage. 1975. A documentary on the life and philosophy of artist and mother Jane Brakhage. 10 min. Lover/Other. 2006. With Kathleen Chalfant. This hybrid drama/documentary captures the life of 1920s Surrealist photographer Claude Cahun, who lived with her stepsister Marcel Moore on the Nazi occupied Isle of Jersey during WWII.