
With a significant number of the most provocative films and videos from the 1980s underground scene to his credit, artist and photographer Richard Kern is the undisputed master of transgressive cinema. A hard-core social satirist, he makes work that is by turns perverse, sadistic, theatrically bizarre, and darkly humorous, pursuing his interest in lives at the extreme and a fascination with the “geography of faces and bodies.” Lydia Lunch, Leg Lung, Tommy Turner, Nick Zedd, David Wojnarowicz, and Sonic Youth are among the legendary downtown artists whose collaborations with Kern are featured here. Program highlights include his first film, Goodbye 42nd Street, a loving portrait of Times Square in all its seedy glory; Manhattan Love Suicides, a remarkable anthology on erotic obsession; and Fingered, his reimagining of Nicholas Ray’s They Live by Night (1947), which John Waters has described as “the best hillbilly-punk-art-porno movie in the world.” Program 75 min.
Death Valley 69. 1985. USA. Music video for Sonic Youth with Lydia Lunch. Directed with Judith Barry. With Lung Leg, Tommy Turner. Digital projection from Super8mm. 6 min.
Courtesy the artist.
Fingered. 1986. USA. Written by Kern and Lydia Lunch. With Lunch, Clint Ruin (JG Thirlwell), Lung Leg, Marty Nations. Digital projection from Super8mm. 22 min.
Courtesy the artist.
Pierce. 1986. USA. With Audrey Rose. Digital projection from Super8mm. 6 min.
Courtesy the artist.
Submit to Me Now. 1987. USA. With Audrey Rose, Cassandra Stark, Clint Ruin (JG Thirlwell), Lung Leg, Lydia Lunch, Nick Zedd, Kern. Digital projection from Super8mm. 17 min.
Courtesy the artist.
The King of Sex. 1987. With Nick Zedd, Erica Caim, Audrey Rose, Rick Strange. Music by Killdozer. Digital projection from Super8mm. 4 min.
Courtesy the artist
The Evil Cameraman. 1986/1990. USA. With Jap Anne, Ice Queen, Kern, Little Linda, Jacqui O. Music by Foetus. Digital projection from Super8mm. 11 min.
Courtesy the artist.
X is Y. 1990. USA. With Tomoya, Jacqui O, Linda Serbu, Cristina Martinez, Cassandra Stark. Digital projection from Super8mm. 4 min.
Courtesy the artist.
Scooter and Jinx (aka Moneylove). 1991. USA. Music video for Sonic Youth. Digital projection from Super8mm. 1 min.
Courtesy the artist.
Tumble. 1991. With Linda Serbu. Digital projection from Super8mm. 4 min.
Courtesy the artist.