Janie Geiser Presents Lecture and Screening at National Gallery of Art

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Still from 'Flowers of the Sky' | Image courtesy of the artist

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Still from 'Look and Learn' | Image courtesy of the artist

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Still from 'Silent Sister' | Image courtesy of the artist

Acclaimed interdisciplinary artist and CalArts School of Theater faculty member Janie Geiser presents a lecture and screening on Saturday, May 11, at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

Privately established in 1937, the National Gallery maintains a collection of Western art ranging from the Middle Ages to modern day. The museum’s film program offers screenings, cinematic retrospectives and filmmaking lectures throughout the year from practitioners and critics around the globe.

Geiser will offer an illustrated talk exploring the methodologies and processes involved in creating her most recent performances and films. The 72-minute screening features Geiser’s works completed over the last seven years, including Fluorescent Girl (2018), an ephemeral interplay of light and shadow; Valeria Street (2018), a melancholic mirrored depiction of American industry; and Silent Sister (2016), a grafting of the corporeal and the city.

Geiser is celebrated for her contributions to avant-garde puppetry and the recontextualization of abandoned objects. In 2006, she was awarded a City of Los Angeles Fellowship for The Spider’s Wheels (2006/2009), a three-part installation centered on the trials of a fictional and long-forgotten early film star. Geiser is also the founding co-director of nonprofit performance gallery Automata, an artist-run outfit dedicated to cutting edge art practices and exploring the intimacy of informal viewing situations similar to traditional puppet theater.

Her films have been screened at various prestigious venues, including the Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), the Rotterdam International Film Festival, the Hong Kong International Film Festival and the Sharjah Biennial. Her animated feature The Red Book (1994) was inducted into the National Library of Congress’ Film Registry in 2009. Geiser is also the recipient of a Doris Duke Award (2016) and a California Community Foundation Fellowship for Visual Artists (2011).

Check out the National Gallery of Art’s event page for more information.