John Latham DVD Launch on Saturday 4th September at the Whitechapel Gallery

August 20, 2010
John Latham, Talk Mr Bard, 1961 (still)

Lisson Gallery and LUX are pleased to announce the publication of a new DVD of films by the artist John Latham. The DVD will be launched on 4 September 2010 at Whitechapel Gallery at 4pm to coincide with the end of the ‘John Latham: An archive’ show.

John Latham (1921 – 2006) was one of the most important British artists of the post-war period, best remembered for his painting and sculptural works which incorporated materials such as glass, canvas and books. Less well-known, but now restored after several decades out of circulation, are the six films which Latham made during the 1960s and early 1970s. These films developed Latham’s concepts of ‘time-base’ and ‘structure in events’ through playful and varied use of stop-frame animation, from the stroboscopic collage Speak (1960) to the cosmological meditation Erth (1971) (watch in the LUX Collection).

The DVD John Latham: Films 1960 – 1971 makes all of John Latham’s films from the 1960s and 1970s available for the first time, along with extras including new audio commentaries and film documentation of other Latham projects and performances from the period. Also included is a booklet with a specially commissioned essay on Latham’s films by curator Mark Webber and further information on Latham’s life, work and films.

The DVD is £20 and will be available from 6 September through the LUX Shop and selected retailers.

Contents of the DVD

Unclassified Material (1960, 5’20”)

Unedited Material from the Star (1960, 11’30”)

Talk Mr Bard (1961, 3’50”)

Speak (1962, 10’)

Encyclopedia Britannica (1971, 6’10”)

Erth (1971, 24’20”)

Extras:

• three short films made as part of Latham’s 1970 exhibition at Lisson Gallery

• footage shot and edited by Latham of the events Book Plumbing (1967) and Big Breather (1973)

• audio commentaries by Latham’s sons Noa Latham and John-Paul Latham, Lisson Gallery director Nicholas Logsdail, multimedia artist Jeffrey Shaw and sound artist David Toop

The DVD will be launched at Whitechapel Gallery on 4 September 2010 at 4pm, following a performance by the sound artist David Toop.

Whitechapel Gallery info

To coincide with the end of the gallery’s ‘John Latham: An archive’ show, Toop will be presenting a specially-commissioned performance in response to the John Latham online archive. The DVD will be available at a special launch price after the performance.

John Latham’s estate is represented by Lisson Gallery. His films are also distributed by LUX.

 

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