Taylor Mead: Excavating Taylor Mead September 21, 2008

TAYLOR MEAD: A CLOWN UNDERGROUND
Taylor Mead in person Sep 18 & 19

"If he had decided to live in Paris instead of New York, they'd have built several monuments to Taylor Mead a long time ago." - Gary Indiana

“My philosophy is from Nietzsche: minimum of effort and maximum of error. It's gotten me practically nowhere.” - Taylor Mead

Performer and poet Taylor Mead has starred in over 100 films and is a central figure in the history of underground cinema. Though best known for the films he made with Andy Warhol (including Lonesome Cowboys and Nude Restaurant), Mead has appeared in things as diverse as Saturday Night Live, Rip Torn’s staging of Hamlet and Midnight Cowboy. Now over 80 years old, Mead’s work has a mature innocence, and a celebration of (and longing for) peace and joy that is missing from so much contemporary art today. His performances often bring to mind Chaplin’s “tramp” character. He now spends much of his time writing, doing poetry readings and feeding stray animals. Mead will make his first San Francisco appearance in decades.

Sun, Sep 21, 7:30 pm
EXCAVATING TAYLOR MEAD
BY WILLIAM A. KIRKLEY
If you enjoyed any of the other Mead screenings, you won’t want to miss this poignant documentary, which offers many insights into the life of this underground superstar. The film follows Mead through his eccentric daily life, and examines the complete history of his film and performance work. Narrated by Steve Buscemi. (2005, 98 min, digital video)

Official Website: http://www.ybca.org