Moving Pictures: Early Animation and Its Influence May 1 – July 3, 2015 Sun Valley Center for the Arts
Moving Pictures: Early Animation and Its Influence May 1 – July 3, 2015
Ken Harris and Ben Washam, Hare-Abian Nights, 1959, Warner Brothers—Merrie Melodies, original production cel and production background, Collection of Jay & Gretchen Basen
The history of animation conjures up cartoon characters from the early 20th century: Mickey Mouse, Snow White, Betty Boop. But animation’s origins are actually much older. In the 17th century magic lantern shows featured projections of images painted onto glass slides. Phantasmagoria shows developed in the 18th century and incorporated moving parts into displays of imagery that evoked the supernatural. The Victorian era saw the development of devices like flip books, thaumatropes and zoetropes, all of which rely on the brain’s ability to retain images after we see them— a phenomenon known as the persistence of vision, which allows our eyes to translate rapidly changing frames into a single moving image. For more than a century, artists have utilized the persistence of vision to make films that entertain and delight. These films have also allowed artists to expand the boundaries of traditional artistic mediums, using animation to set paintings and drawings in motion. This exhibition considers the history of animated film and the relationship of that history to contemporary art. It features films and flatwork that illuminate the processes behind animation as well how artists are responding to it today.
Collectors Gretchen and Jay Basen have assembled an extraordinary collection of animation cels and preparatory drawings from early animated films. Cels, or celluloids, are transparent sheets on which animation artists draw or paint figures or objects. The collection is wideranging—highlights include a drawing of Gertie the Dinosaur from Winsor McKay’s 1914 landmark animated film of the same name, as well as cels featuring classic Walt Disney and Warner Brothers characters, like Snow White and Bugs Bunny.
Winsor McCay, Gertie the Dinosaur, 1914, production drawing, ink on rice paper, Collection of Jay & Gretchen Basen
The Center invited artist Stas Orlovski to create a site-specific installation that combines wall drawing, collage and projection of a hand-drawn animated film. Inspired by 18th- and 19th-century phantasmagoria shows, Orlovski’s Wildflower blends imagery from sources as diverse as Victorian scrapbooks, botanical illustration, Soviet-era children’s books and Japanese prints. His quiet and meditative animation evokes experiments with projected images in earlier centuries and illustrates that, even in the digital age, hand-drawn animation remains a powerful tool for artists.
Stas Orlovski, Wildflower (projection still), 2013, hand-drawn animated projection with charcoal, ink, Xerox transfer and collage on wall, courtesy the artist and Traywick Contemporary, Berkeley
The exhibition also includes a series of animations by artist Shelley Jordon alongside a selection of the drawings and paintings used to make her films. Jordon’s films consider different genres of painting, from narrative to still life, which she translates into moving form. Like Orlovski, she sometimes combines projection with wall drawing and often projects her animations onto unexpected viewing surfaces: the interior of tea cup, a sink full of water, the sawn end of a log. She creates some of her films using a single sheet of paper, drawing, altering, erasing and re-drawing up to 500 images that make up the individual frames in a film. Displaying elements of her process alongside the final product, she makes films that are as much about animation itself as they are discrete stories.
Shelley Jordon, Host Log (installation still), 2014, animated drawing and log, courtesy the artist
Inspired by classic cartoon characters like Felix the Cat and Mickey Mouse as well as more contemporary animation, like the Transformers, Blakely Dadson has made a series of black and white drawings that look like frames of animated films. Full of incongruity and juxtaposition, the drawings evoke childhood memories and also allude to the odd mixture of sugary sweetness and violence that permeates children’s entertainment.
Blakely Dadson, Mi Alma, 2014, mixed media on paper, courtesy Charles Hartman Fine Art, Portland
Since childhood, New Zealand-based artist Susan Te Kahurangi King has made thousands of fascinating drawings based on classic cartoon characters: Donald Duck, Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, Woody the Woodpecker and others. Self-taught, King stopped speaking at age four and her artistic work is her primary form of self-expression. At first glance, some of her drawings appear to be pure abstractions, but instead present closely cropped views of famous characters’ figures, which she foreshortens, distorts or rearranges. Sometimes the characters’ outlines become repeating patterns, filling the sheet of paper. King imbues others with exuberant, dynamic movement, capturing animation’s essential motion in a static image.
Susan Te Kahurangi King, Untitled, n.d., crayon on paper, courtesy the artist and Chris Byrne
visual Arts Evening Exhibition Tours Wed, May 6*, Thu, Jun 11 and Thu, Jul 2**, 5:30pm Free at The Center Join us for a glass of wine as you tour the exhibition with The Center’s curators and gallery guides! *On May 6, collectors Gretchen & Jay Basen will discuss their collection of animation cels and optical devices. Please note this tour is on a Wednesday, not a Thursday. **On July 2, artist Shelley Jordon will speak about her hand-drawn animated films and their connection to her painting and drawing practices.
Moving Pictures has been generously supported by Robert & Stephanie Rand
Sun Valley Center for the Arts
Film Persistence of Vision Thu, May 7, 7pm Magic Lantern Cinemas, Ketchum $10 / $12 nonmembers Three-time Oscar winner Richard Williams spent decades and millions of dollars trying to make his masterpiece, The Thief and the Cobbler, only to have it torn from his hands. Director Kevin Schreck’s Persistence of Vision is a fascinating story of artistic obsession and a behind-thescenes look at “the greatest animated film never made.”
The Center hours & location in Ketchum: M–F 9am–5pm, 191 Fifth Street East, Ketchum, Idaho 208.726.9491 www.sunvalleycenter.org
208.578.9122 110 N. Main Street, Hailey, Idaho
Cover: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 1937, Walt Disney Productions, original production cel with presentation background, Collection of Jay & Gretchen Basen