The Figures NY Premiere
The Figures: An Abstract on Geoffrey Young will be having its New York premiere Sunday July 14th at 5pm at Time & Space in Hudson, New York.
The screening is in conjunction with a solo show of Geoffrey Young’s drawings PANEGYRICS opening at the Pamela Salisbury Gallery in Hudson on Saturday July 27th.
A lively portrait of poet, publisher and gallerist Geoffrey Young, The Figures traverses the studios of artists & writers in his orbit as they dive into a freewheeling volley on art making, its lineages, and on language itself.
The documentary features artists James Siena, Carroll Dunham, Kirsten Deirup, Sue Muskat and Philip Knoll with writers and poets Kenneth Goldsmith, Peter Gizzi, Johanna Drucker, Laura Chester and Clark Coolidge.
Geoffrey Young is an undeniable artist – in his life, conversation, and of course in his work. But he eschewed the traditional route of climbing the establishment ladder, instead operating parallel to the academic careerists. Yet he is no outsider artist. His thumb has always been on the pulse of the avant-garde, whether in art or poetry.
The Figures began as a small literary press but it continually charted new territory, championing one of the most influential movements in latter 20th century literature — “language poetry.” And The Geoffrey Young Gallery always shined a light on young artists just breaking onto the scene. Perhaps Geoffrey Young is the ultimate “insider artist.” A true poet’s poet. Certainly a significant figure worthy of a closer look. But what’s a portrait of Geoffrey Young without the figures in his life? The full range of color in this documentary is derived from the many artists and writers who contextualize Geoffrey Young. In verité fashion, we traverse the studios of James Siena, Carroll Dunham, Kirsten Deirup, Sue Muskat and Phil Knoll. We speak with poets, Peter Gizzi, Joanna Drucker and Clark Coolidge, going from the Berkshire home of author Laura Chester to the Manhattan apartment of conceptual poet Kenneth Goldsmith.
Young’s enthusiasm for painting and “the word” is one of great stamina — consider the 135 books of poetry he published; 120 art exhibits featuring over 500 artists, as well as 40 of his own poetry chapbooks, soon to be published in a large book of Selected Writings. Geoffrey Young continually props others up, but is himself hiding in plain sight — a poet alive with wit and depth, whose generosity of spirit reflects his philosophy that in order for art to find its resonance, it must be shared.
Nadia Szold is an award-winning American filmmaker, a writer and a mother. Hailing from Great Barrington, MA, her first work as a director was at 17 with Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. She directed 14 plays performed in New England and New York before turning to film. Her first feature Joy de V., starring Claudia Cardinale and Evan Louison, premiered at Slamdance in 2013 to critical acclaim and a nod from the jury. The film traverses the five boroughs of New York, excavating the emotional rollercoaster of a relationship between a con-artist and his pregnant wife who disappears one morning.
A Film Independent Fellow, Szold premiered her first documentary feature Larry Flynt for President at the 2021 Tribeca Festival to critical acclaim. Working with multiple archives of never-before-seen footage, Nadia tells the definitive story behind one of America’s most controversial dissidents and his campaign of anarchic satire against Ronald Reagan, Jerry Falwell and the Moral Majority. It has since picked up multiple audience & jury awards and sold at Cannes to territories around the world.
Nadia has just completed her second documentary feature, a portrait on the poet Geoffrey Young titled The Figures. She is in development on a documentary about Naama Issachar and the practice of Russian hostage taking for prisoner exchanges. Szold has also optioned the rights to John Updike’s best-selling novel Marry Me and is currently adapting the work for the screen.
