Close-Up pays tribute to Kenneth Anger with a screening of the Magick Lantern Cycle. Cinematic magician, legendary provocateur, author of the infamous Hollywood Babylon book, Kenneth Anger was a unique figure in post-war American culture. His iconic short films are characterised by a mystical-symbolic visual language and phantasmagorical-sensual opulence that underscores the medium’s transgressive potential. Anger’s work fundamentally shaped the aesthetics of 1960s and 1970s subcultures, the visual lexicon of pop and music videos and queer iconography.

Cinematic magician, legendary provocateur, author of the infamous Hollywood Babylon book, Kenneth Anger is a unique figure in post-war American culture. His iconic short films are characterised by a mystical-symbolic visual language and phantasmagorical-sensual opulence that underscores the medium’s transgressive potential. Anger’s work fundamentally shaped the aesthetics of 1960s and 1970s subcultures, the visual lexicon of pop and music videos and queer iconography.

21 January 2020, 8.15pm
Pere Portabella Short Films

We’re pleased to present a selection of Pere Portabella’s short films, including four collaborations with Spanish painter, sculptor, and ceramicist Joan Miró.

Close-Up is thrilled to present the first European solo screening for the US artist Kelly Gallagher, comprising ten years of her moving image work across animation, live action and avant-garde collage. These two programmes offer an overview of a brilliant young artist who has demonstrated a mastery of technique, matched with a strong historical and political consciousness. Hers is a radical critique of the canon and the conservative patriarchy that structures and sustains it. Her stance is feminist, anti-imperialist and anti-racist.