DENVER, CO.- Tickets go on sale Friday, May 1 for a rare presentation of River of Fundament, the six-hour, three-act cinematic spectacle produced over seven years by renowned contemporary artist Matthew Barney.
The Clyfford Still Museum and Denver Art Museum (DAM), in collaboration with the 2015 Biennial of the Americas, have partnered to present the richly staged project, which has been shown just three times in the United States. River of Fundament screens during Denvers Biennial of the Americas at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House on Saturday, July 18, at 5:30 p.m. Tickets will be available nationwide via axs.com/river and at all Denver Arts & Venues box office locations ($20 general / $15 CSM & DAM members / $10 students).
Creator of what Jonathan Jones of The Guardian describes as "one of the most imaginative and brilliant achievements in the history of avant-garde cinema," Matthew Barney is a master of the opulent grotesque according to Linda Yablonsky of the New York Times. The Paris Review describes his work as some of the biggest and most ambitious art of our time.
River of Fundaments diverse cast includes dramatic actors Ellen Burstyn, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Paul Giamatti, and John Buffalo Mailer; Matthew Barney and Aimee Mullins as characters from Barney and Beplers previous collaboration, Cremaster 3; musicians Joan La Barbara (soprano); Milford Graves (free jazz percussionist); Eugene and Herbert Perry (baritones); Belita Woods (funk/blues singer); Lila Downs (ranchera singer); and the Mystic River Native American Pow Wow group; and specialists from various industrial processes. Im not sure what it is, but its not a film, Barney said to interviewer Charlie Rose about the project. What weve ended up with is a hybrid. Its somewhere between documentary footage of live performances and a piece of cinema.
"Were delighted to collaborate with the Denver Art Museum and the 2015 Biennial of the Americas to bring this major work of art to Colorado, said Dean Sobel, director of the Clyfford Still Museum. "Barney is without question one of the most inventive and formidable creative minds within contemporary art of the last 25 years.
Our commitment to bringing the latest in contemporary art to Colorado is firm, and we are delighted to again be working in tandem with our neighbors at the Clyfford Still Museum, said Christoph Heinrich, Frederick and Jan Mayer Director of the Denver Art Museum. Personally, I had the unique opportunity to watch one of the films scenes being shot, and Im looking forward to seeing how the visual pieces fit together.
The Biennial of the Americas is pleased to partner with both the Clyfford Still Museum and Denver Art Museum as we welcome this monumental program from Matthew Barney and Jonathan Bepler to the line-up of this years Biennial of the Americas, said Erin Trapp, CEO/ Executive Director. This film epitomizes the Biennial of the Americas vision to bring the most inspiring artists, innovators and thought leaders to the Mile High City.