The Art Gallery At York University will feature one of Canada’s most prolific experimental filmmakers, Mike Hoolboom, in his first solo exhibit from Nov. 24 through Jan. 30.
Hoolboom (right), a now fortysomething filmmaker who calls Toronto home, works in an essayistic mode, producing films from a montage of images drawn from Hollywood film, found footage, and home movies. Onto this confabulation of images, Hoolboom overlays a meditative narrative on living and dying, of living forwards and backwards, of remembering and forgetting - all parlayed through the common picture world of movies.
The "prolific and mercurial Hoolboom", as he is described by the Film Reference Library, "has made over 50 films and videos since 1980. (Exact numbers vary as Hoolboom notoriously prunes and reshapes his filmography: cutting some films, merging others and completely removing others from circulation.)" He has won a dozen major awards, including a Golden Leopard at Locarno and Best Canadian Film at the Toronto International Festival in 1995 for the AIDS film Frank's Cock. Hoolboom has also written books and articles about fringe film.
As is now customary with AGYU exhibits, a "performance bus" will bring people from the Art Gallery of Ontario to York's Keele campus. The trip will be led by acclaimed video artist and writer Steve Reinke. Using a variety of media, Reinke will interpret and transform the work of Hoolboom for participants, beginning with his well-known film, White Museum. The bus is free and returns downtown at 8:30pm.
On Monday, Dec. 6, The Gladstone Hotel will feature a free program on Hoolboom in collaboration with the Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre (CFMDC) and the AGYU . This action-packed evening of special screenings, new readings and a rare on-stage interview between Hoolboom and AGYU curator Philip Monk begins at 7:30pm. The Gladstone Hotel is located at 1214 Queen Street West.
"Mike Hoolboom: The Invisible Man" opens with a public reception on Wednesday, Nov. 24, from 6 to 9pm. The Art Gallery of York University is located in N145, Ross building. Gallery hours are: Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm, Wednesday, 10am to 8pm; Sunday, noon to 5pm. The gallery is closed Saturday. Admission is free. For more information, contact the AGYU at ext. 55169 or visit their Web site.