biennial time

A preview of Russia's art secrets: Fotofest shows off pieces, includinghand-carried treasures

Mark Klett, Dusk .357, 2004, toned silver gelatin print, printed in 2010,Edition 12/20, signed and titled on front and signed on back, $1,200, donationof the artist
Evgeny Mokhorev, Dina and Misha, 2001, silver gelatin print, Edition 5/20,signed and titled in pencil on back, $2,500, donation of the artist
Richard Mosse, Cigarette at Al Faw Palace, 2009, digital C-print face-mounted toPlexiglas, Edition 1/5, signed and titled in pencil on front, $9,500, donationof the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, N.Y.
Manuel (Ed Hill and Suzanne Bloom), Oliver Twist, 2010, archival pigment print,Edition 4/5, initialed in pencil on front, $1,300, donation of the artists andMoody Gallery
Alexey Titarenko, Untitled (Prison Windows) from the series Time Standing Still,1998, silver gelatin print, Edition 9/15, signed and dated on back, $3,000,donation of the artist and Nailya Alexander Gallery, New York, N.Y.
Andy Freeberg, Stroganov Palace, Russian State Museum, 2008, archival pigmentink, printed in 2011, signed and titled in pencil on back, $4,800, donation ofthe artist and Anya Tish Gallery
Louis Faurer, New York, New York, c. 1947, silver gelatin print, printed in1981, signed and titled in pencil on back, $5,000, anonymous donation
David Levinthal, Untitled from the series Wild West, 1989, archival pigmentprint on Hahnemühle fine art paper, printed in 2009, Edition 8/10, signed inpencil on front, $1,500, donation of the artist

As its 2012 Biennial creeps closer and closer, FotoFest is now offering a sneak peek of work that will be available at its renowned International Fine Art Prints Auction on March 20.

Covering two floors of the Gremillion & Company galleries in Rice Village, the preview show (which runs through March 13) concentrates on Russian photo artists as well photographers from Asia, the Americas and other portions of Europe.

Along with FotoFest founders Wendy Watriss and Fred Baldwin, photography curators Anne Tucker of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and Irina Chmyreva from the Russian Academy of Arts, led a group of more than two dozen collectors on a tour of highlights from the upcoming prints auction last Thursday.

"Fred [Baldwin] and I have been working in Russia for a long time," FotoFest co-founder Wendy Watriss said, " and we feel there is extremely good work that never makes it to the market."

"These are all handpicked prints, mostly from artists we have shown in the past or have commissioned in some way," Watriss told the crowd, noting that a number of works actually were hand-carried from Russia.

Though the Internet has allowed international cultural trends to permeate the Russian art scene, many artists of the former Soviet countries find it challenging to have their work shown outside their own country, primarily due to the high cost of travel.

"Fred and I have been working in Russia for a long time," Watriss said, "and we feel there is extremely good work that never makes it to the market.

"More than half of the work here is international and many pieces you simply never would get except through FotoFest. A number of these artists work through rather obscure galleries while others don't have galleries at all."

Revenues and proceeds from the Fine Print Auction benefit FotoFest's outreach efforts like Literacy Through Photography (LTP), a classroom-based education program for Houston-area public schools. Each year, LTP provides more than 1,000 cameras for use in a FotoFest-design curriculum aimed at improving communication skills.

In most cases, Watriss notes, the prints have been donated by the artists themselves as a gesture of support for the organization's broader commitment to photography and the photo-related arts.

The auction preview will be on display at Gremillion through March 13, when the works will be transported in preparation for the International Fine Art Prints Auction at the downtown Houston DoubleTree on March 20. Click for details.

This year's Biennial opens with a public reception March 16, 2012 at FotoFest’s Vine Street building. Visit the organization's website for more information on programming, including the 60-plus additional Biennial exhibits spaces located throughout the city this spring.

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From Fest to Screen

Alamo Drafthouse kicks off film distribution with Butthole Surfers doc

Photo by Pat Blashil

Alamo Drafthouse is going bold with the first of its picks for its new festival film distribution initiative.

The Austin-based movie theater chain Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is doing something about the great films that premiere at festivals and never make it to the general public. It's launching Alamo Exclusives, a theatrical distribution program specifically dedicated to getting more eyes on those films across the country for limited runs. The program will start with the South by Southwest-premiered documentary Butthole Surfers: The Hole Truth and Nothing Butt.

The documentary follows the rise and taming of Butthole Surfers, the wild '80s punk band from San Antonio and Austin. The film uses archival footage and interviews to go deep on the many band members over the years and their shock-and-awe performance style.

With gratuitous full-frontal nudity, questionable group ethics, and a penchant for always upping the ante, it's not surprising that this film hasn't become a mainstream hit, but it offers strangely beautiful and loving insight into what makes Austin so weird — and what that cost the people involved. It's an encouraging first choice to prove Alamo Drafthouse is committed to bringing interesting and unique films to light.

Tickets will go on sale July 21 for screenings scheduled for late this summer.

"I’m so grateful that Alamo Drafthouse believes in this film and chose it to kick off the Alamo Exclusives distribution program,” said director Tom Stern in a press release. “I love that Alamo audiences are passionate moviegoers who genuinely embrace great documentaries and independent cinema. Knowing this film will be experienced on big screens by that kind of audience makes this release especially meaningful.”

“Too many incredible films premiere at festivals and then never receive the theatrical life they deserve,” says Lisa Dreyer, director of Alamo's Fantastic Fest and film innovation. “We are actively searching for films across all genres, from horror to comedy, to everything in-between, to champion in this new, exciting way. We're thrilled to launch the program with BUTTHOLE SURFERS: THE HOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUTT, a film that’s bold, entertaining, unapologetically original, and deeply connected to Austin's creative DNA. We couldn't imagine a better film to kick off this new chapter.”

Alamo Exclusives will run titles without distribution from a variety of festivals including Sundance, South by Southwest (SXSW), Tribeca, TIFF, Cannes, Berlin, and Fantastic Fest. Those limited runs will also come with marketing support, and Alamo will work directly with filmmakers to make it happen.

One of Alamo's specialties as a chain is a wide selection of titles; the release says it plays "more movies than any other theater in the world." That includes repertory programming (showing old films), releasing new films in a way that highlights the filmmaker, special events, and more. Alamo Exclusives will fit right in, but they'll be clearly labeled so that they're easy to spot.

More titles will be announced "in the coming months," the release says. Alamo is taking submissions from filmmakers and sales agents via Film Freeway.

“From the very beginning, Alamo Drafthouse has championed independent film and built strong relationships with filmmakers because we know our audiences value discovering great cinema,” says Michael Kustermann, CEO of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. “Time and again, they've shown they'll come out to support bold, original films when given the opportunity. ‘Alamo Exclusives’ is a natural extension of that. It gives us another way to champion filmmaker-driven films that deserve to be discovered and connect them with the wider Alamo Drafthouse audience.”

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