Kenneth Anger and Brian Butler’s Technicolor Skull to perform at MOCA 11/19 for ICONS opening and release of debut vinyl
Anger & Butler
Technicolor Skull performs their first West Coast appearance at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles on November 19, 2011, as part of the opening reception for Kenneth Anger: ICONS. This exhibition will showcase the films, books, and artwork of one of the most original and enigmatic filmmakers of post-war American cinema. This coincides with the release of Technicolor Skull’s self-titled recorded debut, a one-sided, bloodred 180 gram 12″ vinyl LP limited to 666 copies.
LA><ART IS PLEASED TO PRESENT BRIAN BUTLER’S Images and Oracles
PLEASE RSVP SAMARA@LAXART.ORG
Brian Butler, The Dove and the Serpent, 2011, Video still, color, Courtesy of the artist. In May 2011, LA><ART will premiere a new film and installation by artist, musician and filmmaker Brian Butler at the LA><ART ANNEX in Space 15 Twenty, Hollywood. The project will be inaugurated on May 25 at 7pm with a live score of the film, “The Dove and the Serpent,” by Butler and special guest musicians including Kenneth Anger on theremin. Brian Butler’s interests and practices with the occult, with its often hidden meanings, function as the underlying narrative of his work. The occult is that which is hidden: the supernatural, mystical, and magical. These words are often thrown around in art and commerce to sell or be sold, but the stories behind the occult that Butler taps into are much more interesting, strange, and dangerous than their pop renditions, stories that go to the root of Los Angeles and in some ways to its art making here. Los Angeles has served as one of those rare cities where there’s been space for spiritual and aesthetic experimentation, from psychedelic folk music and deadpan conceptualism to the founding of more than a few religious cults. The landmark exhibition of art from Los Angeles at the Museum of Contemporary Art in 1992 wasn’t mistakenly named after Charles Manson’s prophesied apocalypse, Helter Skelter. The practice of magic has played an integral role in Los Angeles, from Jack Parsons and Aleister Crowley to Kenneth Anger and Bobby Beausoleil. Butler proves the occult isn’t just a series of evolving traditions and lineages examined by artists in Los Angeles from Anger to Wallace Berman to Mike Kelley, but a visual language heavy with symbolism and rich with secret meanings and special geometries. The rites of the occult are explicitly meant to communicate with the unseen, to reveal a world just beneath the surface of perceptible reality. Though its rituals may often differ from contemporary visual art, the purpose stated simply, to reveal the unseen and the often dark forces churning beneath the surface, the two may not be so different after all. Butler’s exhibition will consist of an installation including the artist’s newest film project, “The Dove and the Serpent.” Shot in Normandy, France, Butler builds upon occult symbology to create baroque atmospheres and an unsettling narrative whose ultimate meaning seems spectral and elusive. The opening reception will feature a live scoring of an extended version of the film, and a second event (to be announced) will be an occult working performed inside the installation. This project is made possible with generous support from Karyn Kohl and Urban Outfitters. ABOUT THE ARTIST Brian Butler is an artist and musician living in Los Angeles. He has been included in: “Projections” curated By Aaron Rose at Roberts & Tilton, Los Angeles; “Bright Morning Star” curated by Natxo Checa at Galeria Zé dos Bois, Lisbon, Portugal; “Onedreamrush” at Today’s Art Museum, Beijing; and The 2nd Athens Biennale. His films have screened at the Tate Modern and the Cannes Film Festival. As a musician, he has recorded and or performed music with artists such as VON LMO, Rozz Williams (Christian Death), Hard Place, and Moving Units. He is currently a collaborator with Kenneth Anger in both Technicolor Skull as well as numerous film and exhibition projects. Butler’s recent writing has centered extensively on the occult, publishing in Disinformation’s Book of Lies as well as working on numerous documentaries and experimental films exploring the subject. His installation at LA><ART will be his first solo exhibition. ABOUT THE CURATOR Andrew Berardini was recently appointed Adjunct Curator of LA><ART. As a writer, he contributes to numerous publications including frieze, LA Weekly, Artslant, and Mousse. Past curatorial projects include original exhibitions with Bruce Nauman, Dave Muller, and Camilo Ontiveros. He recently co-curated with artist Lesley Moon On Forgery, a group exhibition including 38 artists and collectives, at LA><ART in May 2011. ABOUT LA><ART Celebrating its 5th Anniversary in 2010, LA><ART is the leading independent nonprofit contemporary art space in Los Angeles, committed to the production of experimental exhibitions and public art initiatives. Responding to Los Angeles’ cultural climate, LA><ART produces and presents new work for all audiences and offers the public access to the next generation of artists and curators. LA><ART supports challenging work, reflecting the diversity of the city and stimulates conversations on contemporary art in Los Angeles, fostering dynamic relationships between art, artists and their audiences. LA><ART has produced and commissioned over 100 projects in five years. LA><ART ANNEX is located at 1520 N. Cahuenga Blvd. Hollywood CA 90028 T.310.559.0166 F.310.559.0167 www.laxart.org LA><ART ANNEX is open Wednesday through Sunday 11am – 6pm |
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KENNETH ANGER AND BRIAN BUTLER’S TECHNICOLOR SKULL MAKES US DEBUT!!!!
Night of Pan // Brian Butler @ Horse Hospital London
Saturday 20th February
Doors 7:30pm
Los Angeles based filmmaker, artist and musician Brian Butler www.brianbutler.com will host the London premiere of his noted short film, ‘Night of Pan’, along with other works, in London at the Horse Hospital on February 20th at 7:30pm, admission is free. Butler will also perform a live sound performance with projections, accompanied by Death in Vegas’ Richard Fearless. The evening will be rounded out with DJ sets from Fearless and Butler, along with other surprise guest DJs.
‘Night of Pan’ is a seven and a half minute film featuring film auteur Kenneth Anger and actor Vincent Gallo. The film has been screened in various versions internationally – Beijing, Lisbon, Cannes, Athens, Rome, Berlin, Los Angeles and but never in the world center of occultism, London.
In the film, Anger, Gallo, and Butler depict a pagan ritual that symbolizes the stage of ego death in the process of spiritual attainment.
Brian Butler is a multidisciplinary artist who creates works around dark magical themes. He works extensively as a producer on director Kenneth Anger’s films. Additionally he has written for Dazed & Confused and performs along with Anger in the band Technicolor Skull.
Brian Butler’s Night of Pan Premiers in LA at Projections Festival, January 16, 7:30pm at Roberts & Tilton
Los Angeles, CA – Noted filmmaker, artist and musician Brian Butler (www.brianbutler.com) will premier his short film, “Night of Pan” in Los Angeles on January 16 at 7:30pm at the opening of Projections, a festival of rare and hard to see films which includes other directors such as Spike Jonze, Harmony Korine, Jean-Luc Goddard, and Miranda July . Projections was curated by Aaron Rose an artist, film director, writer, musician, and independent curator most noted as the co-curator of the successful museum exhibition and book Beautiful Losers: Contemporary Art & Street Culture which toured the world through 2008.
Projections takes place at the Roberts & Tilton Gallery, 5801 Washington Boulevard, between La Cienega Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue, in Culver City, California from January 16 – February 20, 2010. In addition to screening on January 16, “Night of Pan” will also be screened in a loop at the gallery on February 18, 2010.
“Night of Pan” is a seven and a half minute film featuring film auteur Kenneth Anger and actor Vincent Gallo. The film has been screened in various versions internationally – Beijing, Lisbon, Cannes, Athens, Rome, Berlin and elsewhere, but never in Butler’s base, Los Angeles.
In the film, Anger, Gallo, and Butler depict an occult ritual that symbolizes the stage of ego death in the process of spiritual attainment.
Brian Butler is a multidisciplinary artist who creates works around dark magical themes. He had worked extensively as a producer on director Kenneth Anger’s recent work. Additionally he has written for Dazed & Confused and performs along with Anger in the band Technicolor Skull.
About Projections, Aaron Rose notes, “There are few things that move people as much as seeing a great film. As the organizer of this festival I use the term “film” loosely here as I do the word “festival”, because in this context, I do not necessarily refer only to feature films. In fact some of the most inspiring films I’ve ever seen have been under five minutes long. Projections is a celebration of these types of works. While the focus of this collection is mostly on young filmmakers, I have also chosen to include some masters from the past who, for many reasons, have created things that have moved me in some way. Additionally, it is my hope that by removing all these films from their usual theatrical setting, and instead presenting them in an art gallery context, that people will perhaps look at them a little differently. Not just as entertainment, but as the works of true artists, who contribute greatly to the visual culture of our times.”
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For more information on Brian Butler please contact Susan von Seggern at susan@susanvonseggern.com or 213-840-0077. For information on Projections please see http://www.robertsandtilton.com/currentexhibition/
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
NIGHT OF PAN, A 42 SECOND FILM BY BRIAN BUTLER FOR ONEDREAMRUSH BEIJING, CHINA
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Brian Butler w Moving Units , August 30, 2009, Club Nokia, Los Angelaes
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
CF RUSSELL’S PARADOX
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Authority is all in your head
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Dundee, Scotland with Kenneth Anger August 14 -21, 2008
at the DCA museum. Much of the remaining time with be spent researching
paranormal activity around the Loch Ness region.
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