New York Experimental: Erika Yeomans Selected Works 1997-2007 January 17, 2007

NEW YORK EXPERIMENTAL PRESENTS
Erika Yeomans: Selected Works 1997-2007
Wednesday - January 17, 2007 - 7:00 pm - $7.00
The Tank - 279 Church Street - New York, NY - 10013

New York Experimental, The Tank’s monthly experimental film and video screening series, is pleased to present an evening of works by filmmaker Erika Yeomans. In addition to two of her previously acclaimed films, the program will feature the premier of her multi frame video Paging Dr. Freud.

Paging Dr. Freud (2007, multi-frame video, 16 minutes)
Comprised of archival materials from Yeomans’ tenure as Artistic Director of the experimental theater group Doorika, Paging Dr. Freud is a multi-frame montage that based on image, music and sound bites pulled from various media elements from Doorika performances (1990-1999). It is not intended as a documentary of the theater's history, but rather a new artwork made from elements of past work combined with source materials such as film clips from Suddenly Last Summer, Cruel Story of Youth and the 35 mm Doorika film Hard Head Flair. As a dense montage - it creates a meta narrative that plays off pop culture and post Freudian analysis in all its messy, mixed message glory. Featuring Casey Spooner, Ford Wright, Bobby Conn, Jon Langford, Amy Galper, Marianne Potje and edited by Christine Giorgio.

Chubby Buddy ("The Last Castrato") (2003, Super 8, color, 13 minutes)
Originally conceived as a live sound project as part of a sound series at AC Project Room in New York, April 2001. It was later re-imagined as a short “super 8 home movie”. A narrative based on the memories of Frances Howard, a man who gave up a career and marriage in order to act upon some peculiar impulses. Written and directed by Erika Yeomans, edited by Sandra Montiel (Pose Down, Punch Drunk Love), Music by Pierre Foldes (LIE), Performed by Mot Filipowski, post production Truckstop Media, Braden King.

In Search of Bas Jan’s Miraculous (1997, Mixed Media, B&W/Color, 39 minutes)
A conceptual documentary about the real life misadventures of 1970's Dutch artist Bas Jan Ader. The video is part faux documentary - part Hollywood Technicolor Biopic (with stolen bits of films from classics such as: Lust for Life and The Sound of Music, among many others). The project was featured on NPR's This American Life. Written/Directed by Erika Yeomans Edited by Victoria Plummer. Voiceovers by Ira Glass, Lizzy Yoder of FischerSpooner, Kate Gleason,Ford Wright, Jim Strahs, Judy Elkan and Kevin Hurley.

Over the years, Director/Writer Erika Yeomans has created an extensive body of work in theater, mixed media and film. As the co-founder and artistic director of the performance company Doorika (1989-1999), she has worked with various artists and musicians such as Jon Langford (Mekons), Bobby Conn, Casey Spooner (FischerSpooner), Andrea Polli, Doug Huston, Ford Wright, Eric Koziol (H-Gun Film Labs), Lizzy Yoder (FischerSpooner), Scott Leuthold, Michael Merino, Marianne Potje, Andrea Stanislav, Ken Kobland (Wooster Group), the Aluminum Group and Pierre Foldesand. During that time, Yeomans produced and directed over a dozen original theater productions that toured various theatrical venues throughout the US.

In addition to the Doorika productions, she also created many high-profile multimedia projects including an installation titled Cardboard, Vinyl, Rhinestones: The Denim Fiancé (1999), commissioned by Levi's for the Downtown Arts Festival with visual artist Virgil Marti and later presented at the 2000 Delaware Biennial. In 1995, she directed her first short video, Bunny Boy (1995), adapted from the stage version of Doorika's Japanese trilogy, Akogare No Pari (Paris of Our Dreams) inspired by the Takarazuka Revue and featuring Casey Spooner. Yeomans' next project, In Search of Bas Jan's Miraculous (1997), was a humorous conceptual documentary about the 1970's Dutch visual artist Bas Jan Ader and his mysterious disappearance at sea.

Since 1999, Yeomans has focused primarily on filmmaking. Her videos and films have screened at film festivals and art institutions around the world, including: ICA in London, Lincoln Center's New York Video Festival at the Walter Reade Theater, Los Angeles' Disney Hall/REDCAT Theater, IFP's Buzzcuts, London's Exploding Cinema!, Video Arts Plastique at the Contemporary Art Museum in Normandy, Berlin's Transmediale, Silver Lake Film Festival, Amsterdam's Stedelijk Museum, Austria's Ars Electronica, Cinematek at the Danish Film Institute, The Soap Factory, Anthology Film Archives, among many others. In 2004, she had a special feature program of her short films at New York's Pioneer Theater. She was awarded a New York State Council for the Arts Media Grant (2004-2005) for her feature film Pose Down (2007), which was shot during the summer of 2006 and is currently in post production. Her film Chubby Buddy is touring as part of the NY-MPLS-LONDON group art exhibit LATITUDE (curated by Andrea Stanislav) and opens at The Fieldgate Gallery (London) in January 2007. Her films and videos are distributed through The Film-Makers' Cooperative.

For more information on the work of Erika Yeomans please visit: www.fortherestofyournaturallifeproductions.com.

For information on New York Experimental at The Tank please contact Susan Agliata at susan@thetanknyc.org and visit www.thetanknyc.org.

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