[artinfo] John Smith on www.tank.tv 1.03.07 - 15.4.07

[Alice O'Reilly]

John Smith – Film and Video
www.tank.tv / 1st March - 15th April 2007

This month tank.tv presents a rare opportunity to view a retrospective of
the work of one of the most important British film and video artists of his
generation, John Smith.

tank.tv have a long-standing relationship with the artist and we are very
pleased to present work that has so much influenced young and emerging
artists.
John Smith started making films in 1972 and became associated with the
London Film Makers Co-op. At the height of theory led, materialist
filmmaking, Smith's work was marked by its humour and accessibility.
Playful, idiosyncratic and staunchly rigorous these films (made over a 32
year period) are an absorbing exploration of questions central to both
cinema and experience

Over the past three decades John Smith has developed a body of work that
deftly subverts the perceived boundaries between truth and fiction,
representation and abstraction. Drawing on the raw material of everyday
life, Smith's meticulously crafted films rework and transform reality,
playfully exploring and exposing the power of cinematic language.

The show includes one of Smith's key works, Girl Chewing Gum (1976).  The
film examines many of the themes present throughout Smith's work, despite
being made very early in his career, during his masters degree. A voice-over
accompanies footage of a busy London street corner, appearing to direct the
movement of people, birds and even a clock. This witty meditation on
perception, knowledge and language questions the notion of documentary truth
and examines the power of text over image.

"The films of John Smith conduct a serious investigation into the
combination of sound and image, but with a sense of humour that reaches out
beyond the traditional avant-garde audience.  His films move between
narrative and absurdity, constantly undermining the traditional relationship
between the visual and the aural.  By blurring the perceived boundaries of
experimental film, fiction and documentary, Smith never delivers what he has
led the spectator to expect."  Mark Webber   (Leeds International Film
Festival catalogue 2000)

John Smith lives and works in London.

The exhibition will include the full length showing of: 'Om' (1986),
'Gargantuan' (1992), 'The Waste Land' (1999) and 'Pyramids/Skunk' (2006/7).
The exhibition will also include excerpts from: 'Associations' (1975), 'The
Girl Chewing Gum' (1976), 'Shepherd's Delight' (1984), 'The Black Tower'
(1987), 'Slow Glass' (1992), 'Blight' (1996), 'Regression' (1999), 'Lost
Sound' (2001) and 'Worst Case Scenario' (2003).

John Smith is online at www.tank.tv from 1st March to 15th April 2007.

For distribution contact info at lux.org.uk
For additional information see
http://www.luxonline.org.uk/artists/john_smith/index.html

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
For press enquiries please contact: Alice O'Reilly alice at tank.tv
tank.tv / Tank Magazine 49-50 Great Marlborough Street London - W1F 7JR - UK
- Tel: +44 (0) 207 434 0110



-- 

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Alice O'Reilly
tank.tv
5th floor
49-50 Great Marlborough street
London W1F 7JR

alice at tank.tv
T +44 (0)207434 0110
F +44 (0)207434 9232

http://www.tank.tv

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

tank.tv is an inspirational showcase of contemporary moving images /
dedicated
to exhibiting and promoting moving images, www.tank.tv acts
as a platform for the new, innovative work in film and video