Films from L’Abominable 2000-2018
Organized by filmmaker and curator Stefano Canapa - in person!
Microscope Gallery is extremely pleased to welcome Paris-based filmmaker Stefano Canapa to the gallery on one of his rare trips to New York to present "Inner Journey in Photochemicals Lands", a screening of films by David Dudouit, Emmanuel Lefrant, Guillaume Mazloum, Nicolas Rey, Elisa Ribes, and Yoana Urruzola made under the auspices of Paris’ independent lab L’Abominable.
The 16mm and 35mm works selected by Canapa, whose films are also in the program, were physically made by each of the filmmakers at artist-run film laboratory L’Abominable, a venue that has contributed to keep celluloid film alive since 1996 and has been a formidable resource for artists or for aspiring ones by providing tools to develop, optically print, blow up, edit, and print films.
The evening’s program of films — spanning 18 years — is only a minimal portion culled from a catalogue of more than 300 titles assembled from 1995 until today. In 2014, L’abominable’s co-founder and filmmaker Nicolas Rey writes about the films made at the lab in the years 2007-2012: “What is very impressive in this list is how the filmmakers shared a common setup and practices, exchanged information and were mutually supportive, while developing very different aesthetics. Naturally, working closely together was not without consequences and it would be hard indeed to label these works as fiction, documentary or experimental.”
Stefano Canapa in attendance and available for Q&A following the screening.
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Stefano Canapa (Turin, Italy, 1977) graduated in 2001 in Film History and Aesthetics from DAMS University in Turin. After moving to France, he combined his training with his experience from the Paris-based lab “L’abominable”, and contributed to creating similar kinds of organizations (experimental, artisanal, self-managed) in Turin and Montevideo. Canapa is part of the French artist collective Group ZUR (Zone Utopiquement Reconstituée) since 1998. He has been increasingly involved in projects with live components since 2002: installations, performance art, multidisciplinary improvisations, and plays for theatre. He co-directed with Catherine Libert two feature documentary films, "Les Champs Brulants" and "Des Provinces Lointaines". His work has been presented in many international festivals and exhibitions such as Locarno, Rotterdam, Berlin, Oberhausen, Marseille, Paris, Lussas, Turin, Seoul, New York, Toronto, Montreal, Belo Horizonte.
More info and full program at www.microscopegallery.com