To New York With Love

JONAS MEKAS

James Fuentes LLC Gallery

55 Delancey Street

Another Gallery that relocated last week was the James Fuentes Gallery. They did it with a bustling opening on Friday night, showing work by Jonas Mekas. I remember Mekas from when I was a student at Blindern University (Oslo, New York) when he came and talked about Flux films in the 90's. It changed my perspective on film, it was so new and exciting to me although he began to create these films in the 70's.

The Gallery is presenting two new works by Jonas Mekas the first called Orchard Street (2010). 

For three years, 1953-1956, Orchard Street was my home. I loved its crowded, bustling existence. The footage in this installation, with the exception of brief images of myself and my brother Adolfas, comes from the year 1975, many years later, but the street hadn’t yet changed during the interval of years since I had lived there, on 95 Orchard Street. Change came many years later… "

                       -Jonas Mekas, from the James Fuentes Gallery press release.

                         

The second film is "World Trade Center Haikus" 2010. This one is incredibly gripping. 

Going through all his films, from 1975 - 1995, Mekas realised how prominent the Twin Towers were. 

This installation is my love poem to it. My method in constructing this piece was simply to pull out images of the WTC from my original footage, while including some of the surrounding scenes. The result I felt came close, albeit indirectly, to what in poetry is known as the Haiku.”

                    -Jonas Mekas, from the James Fuentes Gallery press release.

Enjoyable was also to see a few of his framed stills from his films, romantic, poetic and also slightly comical like this last one.

With Bug Love

Kristin