“I come from cinema; it’s cinema I’m quoting from and cinema I reappropriate.”—Isaac Julien, Riot
We are delighted that Isaac Julien will join us for an evening of his films and a presentation on his multiscreen installation works; he is the UC Regents’ Lecturer for 2016, invited on the initiative of The Black Room, a UC Berkeley faculty collective. Julien is a filmmaker and photographer who has been a central figure in British visual culture, black British cultural studies, and queer independent cinema for the last two decades. His work has pushed the boundaries of filmmaking in documentary, biography, dance, and narrative. He is one of the pioneers expanding the reach of film from cinemas to museums and galleries, staging acclaimed multiscreen art installations. Glenn D. Lowry, director of the Museum of Modern Art, recently described his work as distinguished by “a particular fascination and strength, combining political commitment, an acute sensitivity to the complexities of the world’s developing global culture, and a visual approach that is lushly, swimmingly sensual.”
Julien’s work has been widely recognized; he is the recipient of awards from both the Berlin and Seattle International Film Festivals, and of a Frameline Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as the Rockefeller Humanities Fellowship and the McDermott Award from MIT.
The Black Room
Jessica Silverman Gallery in San Francisco premieres a retrospective of still photographs by Isaac Julien, Vintage, on view from April 22 to June 11. The exhibition includes works from Looking for Langston (1989), Three (1999), Trussed (1996), and Mazatlan (1999-2000), as well as a selection of images from more recent bodies of work. The exhibition opening is Friday, April 22 from 6 to 8 p.m.