AIRING OUT HARRY SMITH’S SHIRT
Thursday, April 27 (7:30PM)
A screening of film and video, co-presented by Aurora Picture Show and F, Houston
Filmmaker and program curator Andrew Lampert in attendance
Free Admission

Aurora Picture Show
2442 Bartlett Street Houston TX 77098

Artist, ethnomusicologist, occultist, and animator Harry Smith (1923-91) was a central figure of the American underground and one of the twentieth century's key weirdos. This eclectic program celebrates Smith’s centenary with a screening of his masterpiece Early Abstractions (c. 1946-1957) alongside a selection of films and videos by his contemporaries and descendants. The program includes Harry Smith at the Breslin (1984/2017) by Smith’s good friend Robert Frank, Meditation (1971) by Smith’s contemporary Jordan Belson, Soul City (1977) by Smith’s protégé M. Henry Jones, and contemporary works by filmmakers Peggy Ahwesh, Martha Colburn, Amy Sillman, Leslie Supnet, and Lily Jue Sheng. This program is organized and hosted by Andrew Lampert, Adam Marnie and Aurora Picture Show in conjunction with the group exhibition Harry Smith’s Shirt at F, Houston, on view April 2 – June 4, 2023.

Program: 

Early Abstractions
Harry Smith (USA, ca. 1946-57, 16mm, 23:00)
Courtesy of the Film-Makers' Cooperative 

Meditation
Jordan Belson (USA, 1971, 16mm, 5:40)
Courtesy The Estate of Jordan Belson, with the authorization of his widow, Catherine Heinrich

The Third Body 
Peggy Ahwesh (USA, 2007, digital, 8:40) 
Courtesy of the artist 

Harry Smith At The Breslin Hotel, 1984
Robert Frank (USA, 2017, digital, 10:42)
Courtesy The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston 

Soul City 
M. Henry Jones (USA, 1979, 16mm, 2:20)
Courtesy of the Film-Makers' Cooperative 

Zig Zag 
Martha Colburn (USA, 1995, Super 8mm & 16mm to digital, 2:43)
Courtesy of the artist

Test Strips 
Amy Sillman (USA, 2013, digital, 5:57)
Courtesy of the artist

Second Sun
Leslie Supnet (Canada, 2014, Super 8-on-digital, 3:10)
Courtesy of the artist 

Mercurial Matter
Lily Jue Sheng (USA, 2014-2017, 16mm, 6:00)
Courtesy of the artist

Image: Harry Smith, Early Abstractions, 1946. Image Courtesy of The New American Cinema Group/The Film-makers' Cooperative.