The Walker Art Center continues its Target Free Thursday Nights programming in April with three evenings of films representing the best of contemporary cinema. On Thursday, April 2, the Walker Cinema hosts a double feature of films by Iranian-American filmmaker Ramin Bahrani, including his debut feature Man Push Cart at 7 pm, and Chop Shop at 8:45 pm. Carlos Saura’s Fados screens on Thursday, April 23, presented with the Office of International Programs and the Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies at the University of Minnesota, and the regional premiere of Objectified, Gary Hustwit’s follow-up to his 2007 hit Helvetica, follows on Thursday, April 30 (ticketed event).
Other programs in April include a reading with three poets—Bill Berkson, Vincent Katz, and Lewis Warsh—who have teamed up with visual artists on limited-edition books. Each offers an illustrated reading with a roundtable Q&A to follow (April 16, 7 pm).
Also in April, take advantage of discounted tickets for selected Thursday evening performances in the McGuire Theater: Donna Uchizono Dance Company (April 2); Cynthia Hopkins (April 16); and New World Dance: New York (April 30).
Sound Bites gallery talks are offered throughout the month on select Thursday evenings at 6:30 and 7 pm. Sound Bites illuminate an artist or work of art from the Walker’s world-class collection or one of its special exhibitions.
Target Free Thursday Nights
April 2, 16, 23, 30
Galleries open 5–9; special events follow.
Free
Thursday, April 2
Sound Bites: Text/Messages: Books by Artists, 6:30 and 7 pm
Meet in the Bazinet Garden Lobby
Contemporary art and artists are the focus of these 15-minute gallery conversations led by Walker tour guides. Each highlights selected artworks, artists, or themes that serve as topics for illuminating discussions.
Films: Man Push Cart, 7 pm; Chop Shop, 8:45 pm
Cinema
Man Push Cart, Ramin Bahrani’s debut feature about a washed-up Pakistani pop star selling bagels in New York, made Roger Ebert’s Top 10 film list for 2006. In Chop Shop, first-time actor Alejandro Planco gives a charismatic performance as an abandoned, streetwise 12-year-old in Queens.
Thursday, April 16
Sound Bites: What’s with the Felt Suit? Joseph Beuys’s Filzanzug (Felt Suit), 6:30 and 7 pm
Meet in the Bazinet Garden Lobby
Contemporary art and artists are the focus of these 15-minute gallery conversations led by Walker tour guides. Each highlights selected artworks, artists, or themes that serve as topics for illuminating discussions.
Free Verse: The Collaborative Artists’ Book, 7 pm
Cinema
Free tickets available at the Bazinet Garden Lobby desk from 6 pm
Many artworks in the exhibition Text/Messages: Books by Artists are the result of a creative alliance between an artist and a writer. Join us for an evening of verse and image with three noteworthy poets who have collaborated with visual artists on limited-edition books—Bill Berkson worked with artist Alex Katz; Vincent Katz joined forces with painter Francesco Clemente; and Lewis Warsh worked with video artist Julie Harrison. Each offers a brief, illustrated reading followed by a roundtable Q&A at which they’ll discuss the dynamics of feeding the written word into a collaborative, visual work. Copresented by Rain Taxi Review of Books.
Thursday, April 23
Sound Bites: Agnes Martin’s Untitled #7, 6:30 and 7 pm
Meet in the Bazinet Garden Lobby
Contemporary art and artists are the focus of these 15-minute gallery conversations led by Walker tour guides. Each highlights selected artworks, artists, or themes that serve as topics for illuminating discussions.
Film: Fados, 7:30 pm
Directed by Carlos Saura
Cinema
Introduction and post-screening discussion led by Fernando Arenas and Marcela Garcés, Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies, University of Minnesota
Bursting with dance and musical sequences by Caetano Veloso, Carlos do Carmo, and other masters of the genre, this film captures the styles and interpretations of fado—songs of pining for lost loves and unfulfilled dreams—throughout the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America. Completing his trilogy of cross-cultural art forms that began with Flamenco (1995) and continued with Tango (1998), Saura mines the rich history of this musical form that grew out of the slums of Lisbon in the 1820s. 2007, Spain/Portugal, 35mm, in Portuguese with English subtitles, 85 minutes. Copresented by the Office of International Programs and the Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies, University of Minnesota. Fados is also presented as part of the 27th Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Festival.
Thursday, April 30
Sound Bites: FlatPak House: Quick Facts About Prefab Architecture, 6:30 and 7 pm
Meet in the Bazinet Garden Lobby
Contemporary art and artists are the focus of these 15-minute gallery conversations led by Walker tour guides. Each highlights selected artworks, artists, or themes that serve as topics for illuminating discussions.
Drawn Here: Objectified, 7 and 9 pm
With director Gary Hustwit
Cinema
$10 ($8 Walker/AIGA members and students)
Join us for the regional premiere of Objectified, the new feature-length independent documentary about industrial design from the director of Helvetica. Exploring the creative processes of some of the world’s most influential product designers, Gary Hustwit examines how the things they make impact our lives. What can we learn about who we are and who we want to be from the objects with which we surround ourselves?
