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Speakeasy Cinema, Madman & Anode

 present

 

THE UNIVERSE OF KEITH HARING

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tickets:

Film, burger & beverage: $20 pre-sale / $25 at the door  I  Film only: $15 pre-sale / $18 at the door

Tickets available through Moshtix at www.moshtix.com.au, 1300 GET TIX (438 849) on your mobile www.moshtix.mobi and all Moshtix outlets.

 

 

www.speakeasycinema.com.au     www.anode2009.com     www.haring.com     www.madman.com.au

 

THE UNIVERSE OF KEITH HARING

 

The Universe Of Keith Haring is an intimate portrait of world-renowned artist Keith Haring. Out of a small town in Pennsylvania, Haring moved to New York and quickly became an iconic figure in the downtown scene during the 1980s. He built his reputation as a painter, graffiti artist and designer outside the closed world of the art establishment by putting his art on the street and declaring his mantra that "Art is for everyone!" His stylized silhouettes became modern icons that revolutionized the art world and buoyed him into the world of celebrity. He counted Madonna, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol amongst his friends and became an influential gay icon who campaigned tirelessly up until he died of AIDS at age 31.

 

With Fab 5 Freddy, Jeffrey Deitch, Julia Gruen, Kim Hastreiter, Bill T. Jones, David LaChapelle, Hans Mayer, Samantha McEwen, Carlo McCormick, Roger Nellens, Yoko Ono, Kermit Oswald, Kenny Sharf, Bruno Schmidt, Tony Shafrazi, Drew Straub, Junior Vasquez and Gil Vasquez. 82 mins. Rated: M.

 

An interview with director Christina Clausen will screen after the documentary.

 

‘Equally a portrait of the artist and a portrait of a decade, this celebratory documentary makes the short, accelerated life of Keith Haring (1958–1990) inseparable from that short, accelerated period we know as '80s New York. Haring arrived there, like his idol Andy Warhol, a small-town boy from Pennsylvania. He swiftly became an art-world star, known for vibrant, optimistic cartoons and murals—often executed in subway stations, graffiti-style, and on sidewalks—and turned into something of a gay icon. Madonna performed at his birthday party, in a dress covered with his scribbles. He painted a mostly nude Grace Jones, whom we see performing here—among many other period clips—at the famed Paradise Garage. Near decade's close, Haring was commissioned to paint the Berlin Wall —a reminder of how that era was to end so abruptly. AIDS, of course, was its punctuation note. Haring was an activist before he fell ill, and he continued to create and lecture—with generous excerpts shown here—right up to the inevitable end. With family and other members of the Keith Haring Foundation interviewed (plus Yoko Ono, Kenny Scharf, and various scenesters), Universe is not a critical appraisal of Haring's work or legacy. I lived in Manhattan during those years, and his youthful energy surely made the city a better place. Today, his art holds up less well on museum walls than as cheerful hospital murals—instruments of healing, Haring believed. Maybe that's ironic, or maybe we just live in unhealthier times.’

~The Village Voice

 

Watch the Trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3nbbGFEG2s

 

Speakeasy Cinema presents The Universe of Keith Haring in conjunction with Madman. MADMAN is Australia’s leading independent home entertainment and theatrical distribution and rights management company. Madman proudly showcases the best in collectable and special interest genres including Australian film, World cinema, TV, Kids’ content and Japanese animation, (anime).

 

SPEAKEASY CINEMA

Here’s the thing. Movies are great, but where do you hang out afterwards? Speakeasy Cinema know how difficult it is to do a serious mise-en-scène analysis descending out of a multiplex on an escalator. They’ve been casing the joint at 1000 £ Bend, and at the end of October they’ll roll out the velvet on a cinema space upstairs. With Monkey in the kitchen and a barmaid in the corner, Speakeasy looks like a cinema, tastes like a laneway bar and smells like your mum’s cooking. The program catches films on the sly — titles that might otherwise fall through the cracks at the ‘usual suspects’ — plus they’re bringing shorts back into fashion with shorts screenings before the features … just like the olden days. Speakeasy will always give you a reason to get off your couch. They’ll lure you with exhibitions in the gallery, after-parties, sneaks at DVD extras, Q+As, giveaways and funny meal-deals. Plus there’s plenty of space in the gallery and café for you to hang around and debate plot points with your pals afterwards.

During Anode, Speakeasy and 1000 £ Bend are offering a super-deluxe meal and movie special. Choose between a gourmet ’roo or saganaki burger and either a glass of wine or a bottle of beer to suck on while you watch the film. For a clean $20 (pre-sale) / $25 (at the door), we challenge you to find a cheaper date with the kind of cachet eating off a beanbag lap-tray will give you.

 

ANODE 2009

Taking the focus off the idea of curator-as-dictator, Anode looks at the array of art, film, music, installation, design and performance happening right under our noses, and celebrates the idea that everyone is a creator. Collectively curated through networks and groups in Sydney and Melbourne, there are no themes and no dictates from above. Roller-skaters, InDesign nerds, paper trees and pretty girls in boyfriend-jeans will unite at festival hub 1000 £ Bend during this season of local and independent art-appreciation. The 2009 program kicks off on 30th October at 1000 £ Bend with a screening of Beautiful Losers, gallery works and a festival bash.

 

Speakeasy Cinema & Anode Publicity:

For high resolution images or a PDF of this press release please contact - 

Ghita Loebenstein  I  T: 0411 436 620  I  E: ghita@decodemedia.com.au