Theoretical Music: Rome ‘78 – Film Screening and Conversation with Filmmaker and Artist, James Nares November 3, 2010

“Theoretical Music: No Wave, New Music, and the New York Art Scene, 1978-1983” is a three-day event organized by art historian Branden W. Joseph and musician David Grubbs to take place at ISSUE Project Room. Its purpose is to examine the intersections as well as the failed encounters of art, music, and cinema in downtown Manhattan from 1978-1983. In addition to an evening of panel discussions (Thursday, Nov. 4) among some of the most notable figures to emerge from the art, music, and film scenes of the time, the event will include a rare screening of James Nares’s no wave epic, Rome ’78 (Wednesday, Nov. 3) and conclude with a concert performance headlined by the first New York appearance in years by the fearless, crucial downtown band, Ut (Friday, Nov. 5).

Starring Patti Astor, James Chance, Bradley Field, David McDermott, Eric Mitchell, Lance Loud, John Lurie, Lydia Lunch, Anya Phillips, and Pat Place, among others.

British-born artist James Nares has lived and worked in New York for more than three decades. He is known both as a painter and as a filmmaker, and his films were the subject of a 2008 retrospective at Anthology Film Archives. Jim Jarmusch described Nares’s films as “luminous jewels scattered in the dirt—as varied and striking as his paintings, his photographs, and his train of thought.” As a painter, Nares uses his mastery of the balance between spontaneity and control to create a single elegant stroke that pulsates with energy, relating to Franz Kline as well as to the cartoon brushstrokes of Roy Lichtenstein. As a musician, Nares played with the Contortions and the Del-Byzanteens.

Official Website: http://www.issueprojectroom.org/2010/09/26/theoretical-music-rome78/