| « Lone Survivor, August: Osage County, The Past & The Selfish Giant | Savion Glover STePz into Chicago » |
Sculpture Fri Jan 10 2014
Two Films on "Picasso and the Mayor" Celebrate 47th Anniversary of Iconic Sculpture
Our Picasso is almost 47 years old. It was August 15, 1967, when "just after noon, Mayor Richard J. Daley pulled a cord attached to 1,200 square feet of blue-green fabric, unwrapping a gift 'to the people of Chicago' from an artist who had never visited--and had shown no previous interest in--the city," according to the Chicago Tribune.
You can join in celebrating the dedication of the iconic Daley Plaza sculpture in a screening of two films on "Picasso and the Mayor: The Chicago Picasso on 16mm Film."
The two films, which view the sculpture from different perspectives, are:
- The Chicago Picasso (1967, 60 minutes) produced by PBS station WNET, which the presenters describe as "a slick, entertaining educational film about how great men with big ideas, sacks of cash, and steel smelters helped bring cutting-edge art to the citizens of Chicgo."
- The Bride Stripped Bare (1967, 12 minutes), shot by Chicago filmmaker Tom Palazzolo during the dedication ceremony. He describes the event as "absurd and mystical pomp bound up in grandiose ceremonies."
The project, presented by South Side Projections and Co-Prosperity Sphere, will feature Palazzolo, along with Annie Morse, senior lecturer in museum education at the Art Institute of Chicago, who will discuss the circumstances that brought the Picasso here, including Mayor Daley's push for Chicago to adopt large-scale modernist public art.
South Side Projections is a nonprofit organization presenting film screenings throughout Chicago's south side. "Picasso and the Mayor" will be screened at 7pm Thursday, Jan. 23, at Co-Prosperity Sphere, 3219-21 S. Morgan St. The suggested donation at the door is $5; for more information, call 773-701-1923.
Poster design by Alexandra Ensign.
