THE SECRET CINEMA
Paul Bartel: A New York Tribute in Film and Exhibition
THE FILMS OF PAUL BARTEL
Anthology Film Archives
October 13-19, 2017
32 Second Avenue, New York, NY.
BOB SCHULENBERG: THE SECRET CINEMA
Patrick Parrish Gallery
October 12-20, 2017
50 Lispenard Street, New York, NY.
Exhibition curated by Andrea Salvini.
Exhibition and graphic design by Andrea Salvini.
The exhibition was Bob Schulenberg’s visual diary – told through his sketchbook drawings and photographs – of the making of Paul Bartel’s cult classic short, THE SECRET CINEMA (1968), which he co-produced.
During the long pauses in between shooting, Schulenberg’s deft hand managed to capture the trials and triumphs of Bartel’s cast and crew as they struggled to complete the film.
Hung as sequential diary entries accompanied by Schulenberg’s characteristically deft and elegant sketches, and supported by his own photographs, the show forms an important oral history of what independent filmmaking looked like in the mid-1960s.
Rarely seen portraits and photographs of Roman Polanski, Sharon Tate, Paul Bartel and a very young Barbra Streisand were included in the show to contextualize Schulenberg's career in the 1960s in New York.
It also documented the story of a budding friendship and creative alliance between Bartel and Schulenberg that lasted the rest of Bartel's life.
Schulenberg is a celebrated illustrator whose work has appeared in countless pages of Vanity Fair, Vogue, Time, Esquire, on Broadway posters and in campaigns for the world’s leading advertising agencies.
The exhibit was a companion event to a week-long tribute to film director Paul Bartel (1938-2000) at Anthology Film Archives in New York City
(October 13-19, 2017) entitled THE FILMS OF PAUL BARTEL.
Bartel and Schulenberg's collaboration gave us a rare opportunity to combine film with fine art. The Bartel film series at Anthology and the gallery show, taken together, were of major interest on the NYC fall film calendar.
The dual event was an independent cultural initiative meant to promote and increase awareness about film preservation and restoration..
THE SECRET CINEMA was restored in 2017 by the Academy Film Archive and The Film Foundation with funding provided by The George Lucas Family Foundation, and premiered on September 9, 2017 at The National Gallery of Art in Washington DC.
The restored print was screened again at the Paul Bartel tribute on Saturday, October 14, 2017 at Anthology Film Archives, where Bob Schulenberg was part of the post-screening panel.
Design and concept:
Schulenberg is a very entertaining raconteur and writer. He is also a regular guest columnist for New York Social Diary, where he writes about specific chapters of his life in New York, accompanied by his drawings.
Since Schulenberg devoted his professional career to illustration, the project idea was to print and display a selection of the drawings, including photos and text, on a 25-foot horizontal strip to hang on the main long wall of the gallery and a 15-foot wider strip hanging on a facing wall, in order to create a narrative feel.
The original sketchbooks were displayed open, aligned on a row of shelves, protected by Plexiglass display cases.
The narrow corridor of the gallery, connecting two wider exhibition areas (front and back of the gallery) with a suspended bridge, allowed a striking perspective of the long strip banner installation.
The drawings were printed the same size of the original ones (11x14 inches) in order not to detract any important details, organized and combined in the banners in a chronological order, creating a visual diary -- the way they are organized in Schulenberg's sketchbooks. This allows the viewer to follow the narrative of the art show from start to finish.
To complement the exhibition, visitors entering the gallery were greeted (and able to watch) by the short movie, THE SECRET CINEMA, screened on a white wall by the suspended bridge.
Patrick Parrish Gallery's Press Release:
http://www.patrickparrish.com/contemporary/exhibitions/exhibition/70
Anthology Film Archives' Press Release:
http://anthologyfilmarchives.org/film_screenings/series/48031