At the Barbican next month this programme mixes canonical masterpieces of experimental cinema, with contemporary films, linked together by their explorations of the monumental within the everyday, confronting memory, community, and identity with intimacy and innovation taking inspiration from Noah Davis's Delusions of Grandeur.
This presentation of short films, from the 1960s to the present day draw inspiration from Davis’s painting, that captures a small child staring up at an impossibly large staircase—a poignant metaphor for ambition, creativity, and the leap of faith required to navigate life’s uncertainties.
Just as Delusions of Grandeur elevates a child’s contemplation to a universal reflection on ambition and creativity, these films reveal the extraordinary in the seemingly ordinary, each a step toward understanding the monumental layers of human experience.
Programme includes:
- Harmonica (1971), Larry Gottheim, 16mm
- Chelsea Drive (2025) Kevin Jerome Everson & Claudrena Harold, 4 minutes
- By the Lake (1986) Chick Strand, 16mm
- Reluctantly Queer (2016) Akosua Adoma Owusu
- On Sunday (2023) Paige Taul + olula negre
- Latifah And Himli’s Nomadic Uncle (1992) Alnoor Dewshi, 16mm
- Remembrance: A Portrait Study (1967) Edward Owens, 16mm