iCI is proud to announce Inside the Studio: Artist Video Profiles, a new Web-based program featured at http://www.ici-exhibtions.org.  The Artist Video Profiles present a set of fourteen short films depicting contemporary artists discussing their creative methods and techniques in their private work settings.

Created in partnership with Talking Point Films, LLC, the Artist Video Profiles were filmed in artists’ studios during the Fall of 2007 and the Spring of 2008.  The video profiles capture not only the artists’ personal insights about their artwork, but also reveal to the viewers where and how the works are created. iCI’s executive director, Judith Richards, notes that iCI is delighted to offer this series to the public as it is an extraordinary opportunity to enjoy an exclusive visit with these distinguished artists who have generously invited us into their studio spaces to discuss their work. 

The artists featured in Inside the Studio are Luca Buvoli, Beth Campbell, Jim Campbell, E.V. Day, Mitch Epstein, Teresita Fernandez, Louise Fishman, Lyle Ashton Harris, Mary Heilmann, Nina Katchadourian, Julian LaVerdiere, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Trevor Paglen, and Howardena Pindell. The selected artists have works in recent and current iCI exhibitions and provide an excellent overview of the range of artwork found within iCI’s program. For example, works by Jim Campbell and Rafael Lozano-Hemmer are featured in iCI’s Phantasmagoria, Specters of Absence at the USC Fisher Museum of Art in Los Angeles, California, which will be on view September 3 through November 8, 2008.

The first three of the fourteen films will premiere on iCI’s Web site on October 21, 2008, with profiles of Mary Heilmann, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, and Trevor Paglen. Viewers will hear Mary Heilmann speaking on the ways in which she contemplates the structure of her paintings, and later in the series, viewers will learn why Howardena Pindell chooses to use circles in her artwork. Both Heilmann and Pindell exhibited works in the critically acclaimed iCI exhibition High Times, Hard Times: New York Painting 1967-1975, which concluded its tour in June 2008.

Inside the Studio: Artist Video Profiles reflects iCI’s passionate commitment to contemporary art and to presenting the most important new developments in art internationally. This Web-based program will effectively reach a wide-ranging audience, and strongly supports iCI’s mission to enhance the understanding and appreciation of contemporary art.  Moreover, Inside the Studio’s focus on the artist reflects the central role artists play in iCI’s activities, equal in importance to its relationships with curators, museums, and art enthusiasts.

The video profiles average 5 minutes in length and will be added to iCI’s Web site each month from October 2008 through March 2009. 

The films are made possible by a generous grant to iCI from Toby Devan Lewis and were produced by Talking Point Films, LLC.