Film Screening (In-Person)
Americans in Paris at Anthology Film Archives: Shinkichi Tajiri
In conjunction with the exhibition Americans in Paris: Artists Working in Postwar France, 1946–1962
March 2, 2024–July 20, 2024
As a cinematic sidebar to Americans in Paris, Anthology Film Archives will host four programs featuring American expat artists who are showcased in the exhibition, and for whom living in Paris played a formative role in their lives and artistic development.
The fourth and final program shines a spotlight on artist Shinkichi Tajiri, who is best known for his sculptural work, but who also made a number of fascinating films. Tajiri ventured to Paris in 1948 on the GI Bill and created sculptures with metal and found objects that, as he stated, helped “to purge [himself] of the horrors of the war.”
This program includes four of Tajiri’s short films, as well as the great Dutch documentary filmmaker Johan van der Keuken’s 1988 film portrait of Tajiri and Carmen D’Avino’s 1950 documentary VERNISSAGE OF AMERICAN ARTISTS, which provides glimpses of Tajiri and several other American artists in Paris at the time.
Program
All the films in this program, with the exception of VERNISSAGE OF AMERICAN ARTISTS, are screened courtesy of the Eye Filmmuseum.
Shinkichi Tajiri
THE VIPERS
1955, 9.5 min, 16mm
MAD NEST
1955, 4.5 min, 16mm
FERDI
1955, 12 min, 16mm-to-digital. Co-directed by Baird Bryant.
BICYCLES
1960, 5 min, 16mm-to-digital
Johan van der Keuken
TAJIRI
1988, 12 min, 16mm-to-digital
Carmen D’Avino
VERNISSAGE OF AMERICAN ARTISTS
1950, 18 min, 16mm-to-digital
Total running time: ca. 65 min.
Visitor Access
$12 General Admission