BEAUTY: Collage--Leslie Peterson Sapp

Artist Leslie Peterson Sapp uses images from 1940s film noir movies to create her collage paintings.

Artist Statement for "Film Noir":

My pictures tell a story. Not in the traditional narrative style, where a complete concept or linear plot is described. Rather, the way I arrange figures and compose the image creates a scene that evokes a response in the viewer, drawing them in and encouraging them to become engaged by inducing them to fill in the back story themselves. For this exhibit I have created a body of work based on images from classic film noir. Each piece is created using a multi-step process. First I procure the source image from a film. Sometimes I find images from the internet, but more often I capture a screen shot with my camera directly from my TV screen as I play the movie. From this image I create a detailed charcoal drawing. Then I make a small collage based on the drawing. The collage’s tiny size makes it necessary for me to simplify and abstract the shapes in the image. I pay careful attention to simplifying shapes, color relationships, and the interaction of darks and lights. I sometimes start on a dark brown ground, which further helps me to edit out unnecessary details and distil the image to its essential parts. I then create a large piece based on the small collage.

Film noir are modern day myths. In spite of the decades that have passed, the intrigues and sensual tensions of the relationships on screen feel like a relevant reflection of my own life. I experience it as a cathartic, allegoric investigation into the inner workings of my relationships and my position in society. The characters are a part of a web of intrigue and moral ambiguity where everyone is susceptible to the workings of society’s shady underside. Their exploits involve daring and danger, complicated plot twists and mysteries to be solved. The sense of adventure reflects my delight in experiencing and pondering the mysteries around me. The classic noir style characterizes the sensual, aesthetic aspects that compel me in this work. In each picture I create, I have carefully crafted an image that is visually arresting and implies a relationship narrative that compels the viewer to wonder, and reflects the enigmatic complexities of my own life.

Top to bottom: Ambivalence; Anticipate; Backlight; Block; Carpark; Chandeliler; Context; Keys; Lamplight; Office II; Passion In The Suburbs; Search

https://www.lesliepetersonsapp.com/

Just watched...

..."Blade Runner 2049."

I had been waiting a long while to see this film--and it was a nervous wait since the film could have been fantastic or dreadful. But even before it was released, I saw it has a lot going for it: co-written by Hampton Fancher who co-wrote the original film, produced by Scott Free Productions (founded by Ridley Scott, the director of the original film), and starring Harrison Ford who played Rick Deckard in the original film. Add to this the fact that the film was directed by Denis Villeneuve who did the extraordinary 2016 Amy Adams film "Arrival," and also stars "La La Land"'s Ryan Gosling (a wonderfully understated and versatile actor, seen previously here and here) and Oscar-winner Jared Leto, well,...it seemed to be a sure thing.

And I must say that the film exceeded any expectations I had. It is a stunningly beautiful film--truly a worthy successor to the original, in every way possible. The visuals are as breathtaking as the original and the art direction is ravishing. The story makes complete, utter sense and in no way feels forced--or unnecessary--as many sequels (especially after so many years) can; the story not only references the original, but is completely dependent upon it in an extremely satisfying and plausible way. Thanks to Villeneuve, the pacing of the film is a marvel: perfectly deliberate and eerie, like dreaming. I love that Fancher and Villeneuve and everyone connected with this film dared to forego the current popular film structure paradigm of an explosion or car chase every 5 minutes. Sure, there are some actions scenes, some explosions, some chasing, but it does not feel distracting, sensationalizing, or sophomoric...they are part of the larger, more cerebral story filled with deep connections that one must pay close attention to and for.

The film presents something else that I just adore: I love when films portray technology that is unrelated to most anything we know now or could possibly imagine. As the great science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke once said, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." And Leto's character possesses some magical technology that is simply not explained which makes complete sense: if we show current technology, why would we bother to explain how, for example, an iPhone works? In the future, the tehchnology that seems magical now was built on all that came before it. Have faith, it will get there.

And of course it is a real treat to see Harrison Ford as Deckard once again, along with many familiar faces from the original film. The new additions are marvelous too: Gosling, Leto, Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks, and Robin Wright are expertly cast.

Recommend? YES YES YES! But of course you SHOULD have seen the original first...

http://bladerunnermovie.com/

Masks Disclose The Reality Of Souls

"Horror is the removal of masks."
― Robert Bloch

Monty

Montgomery Clift was beautiful.

That is all. As you were...

Just RE-watched...

...one of the most classic film noirs of all time, "Double Indemnity" with Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck.

I saw this legendary piece of cinema when I was in film school in college, many, many...many years ago, and while it may take place in a time where there were no cell phones and no internet, it still deals with issues that are timeless like love, lust, jealousy, betrayal, and hatred. This film and perhaps "The Big Sleep" and "The Maltese Falcon" are considered the quintessential film noirs.

Walter Neff played by Fred MacMurray (looking surprisingly handsome and sexy for those who are old enough to remember him as the kindly middle-aged father from the television show "My Three Sons") is an insurance agent who falls for Phyllis Dietrichson played by Barbara Stanwyck. The only thing standing in the way is Dietrichson's husband whom she professes to despise. A murder plot and insurance scam is cooked up and the wheels are set in motion. Classic film noir premise. But the quick banter (seems all the main characters at some point get to crack wise with at least a golden line or two) and smokey atmosphere never seem to get old. And of course, as I mentioned in my recent review of 2011's "Drive" with Ryan Gosling (seen here), the city of Los Angeles is the true uncredited star of the film...just like "The Big Sleep." The city is a silent player, changing and shaping the other characters, effecting how they behave and think, its topography and architecture as important as any living person

The film was adapted for the screen by director Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler from a novella by James M. Cain. Ya can't get more noir than that. In 1992, the film was chosen for preservation in the prestigious National Film Registry in the the U.S. Library of Congress.
"Double Indemnity" is also featured on the AFI "100 Best American Films of the 20th Century" list and occupies a spot in their Catalog of Feature Films.
http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=2201

Recommend? Sure sure, suppose ya watch it. And suppose ya like it. And suppose ya get a hankering for more films that feature Los Angeles in the 1940s and darkened rooms with Venetian blinds...