Just Above Midtown Gallery’s $4 midnight film screenings may have been one reason the organization eventually lost its lease in the newly gentrifying Tribeca, but that didn’t stop them from planning a robust series of programs while they could. Organized in conjunction with the exhibition Just Above Midtown: Changing Spaces, this film and video program connects work made during the gallery’s years downtown in the early 1980s with work produced by artists affiliated with the gallery since then. Featured works include Lorraine O’Grady’s Greetings and Theses (2022), in which the artist debuts The Knight, or Lancela Palm-and-Steel, her first new performance persona in 40 years and an avatar of the iconic Mlle Bourgeoise Noire; Kit-Yin Snyder’s Double Exposure (2003), an exploration of the artist’s roots in China and the United States; a selection of videos by the path-making media artist Philip Mallory Jones; Ishmael Houston-Jones and Fred Holland’s improvisational duet Untitled aka Oo-Ga-La (1983); and Karen Finley’s performative response to the prompt “Just Above Midtown.”
Organized by Thomas (T.) Jean Lax, Curator, Lilia Rocio Taboada, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Media and Performance and Amber Edmond, Curatorial Fellow, in collaboration with Linda Goode Bryant and Marielle Ingram.
Film at MoMA is made possible by CHANEL.
Additional support is provided by the Annual Film Fund. Leadership support for the Annual Film Fund is provided by Debra and Leon D. Black, with major contributions from The Contemporary Arts Council of The Museum of Modern Art, Jo Carole and Ronald S. Lauder, the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP), The Junior Associates of The Museum of Modern Art, and Karen and Gary Winnick.
