Jonas Mekas - MUSIC London Friday, November 20, 2009 | Phillips

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  • Provenance


    Private collection of Giuseppe Cipriani

  • Catalogue Essay

    Jonas Mekas carefully composes his work at a three-way intersection, in which music, film and photography meet. As a result, the work deftly references all three disciplines without compromising the integrity and idiosyncrasy of each one, allowing for a simultaneous occupation that is harmonious and cohesive. By taking advantage of the rapidly evolving technological devices within each field, Mekas addresses the likewise-evolving cultural permutations on both sides of the Atlantic. His work is consistently characterized by a balance of documentarian precision and personal narrative, whether covering construction workers peddling remnants of the Berlin Wall, or such cultural titans as John Lennon, Andy Warhol and Elvis. The latter example, presented in this lot, is comprised of 40 film stills that capture the energy, charisma, and swagger of the famed Pop icon as much as the sensitivity and avant-garde style of the renowned artist.
    Mekas has represented his home country of Lithuania in the Venice Biennale, and his work has been exhibited at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York; Hirshorn Museum, Washington D.C.; Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne, Australia; and the American Museum of Moving Image. Since 2006, he has been honoured by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the Library of Congress National Film Registry, the Austrian Decoration of Honor for Science and Art, and the Baltic Cultural Achievement Award.

214

Collection of 40 Film Stills: Elvis

2008

Forty dye-destruction prints.

Each 40.5 x 51.1 cm. (15 15/16 x 20 1/8 in).
Each signed in ink on the verso. Number 2 from an edition 3 plus 1 artist's proof.

Estimate
£80,000 - 120,000 

MUSIC

21 Nov 2009
London