Monday, February 13, 2012

4:30 – 6pm: Screening of “a woman like that”

6 — 7pm Encounters with Artemisia: Panel Discussion

Edith Kinney Gaylord Cornerstone Arts Center Film Screening Room, Free

Taught to paint by her father Orazio, a renowned follower of Caravaggio, Artemisia Gentileschi was one of the first female artists to achieve recognition in her own time. Her remarkable life story includes a famous rape trial when she was 17 years old, friendship and support from Galileo and the Medici, and most striking for her time – a career as a working, professional artist.

“a woman like that” is the first personal documentary directed by Weissbrod, who has been working in film for close to thirty years. In 2002, Weissbrod was at a career crossroads, mired in directing empty reality television. Fascinated by Artemisia’s story, Weissbrod determines to take a risk and make her own work – but is mysteriously denied permission to film the once-in-a-lifetime retrospective of Artemisia and her father Orazio at the St. Louis Art Museum. Undeterred, she dons a spy camera and goes ‘undercover,’ secretly filming the exhibition. This bold act sets her on a 5-year journey, as she travels to Italy, where curators and collectors open their museums and homes. This unconventional but heartfelt hunt upends typical artist biographies and delivers instead a funny, engaging and all together different kind of documentary. “a woman like that” is a freewheeling tribute to an artist whose own bold life and inspiring message leaps across centuries to speak to us all. The enduring power of storytelling – in paintings, in films and in our lives is revealed, as the filmmaker learns that who gets to tell the story matters, and that maybe she too, can be “a woman like that.”

Following the film, Ellen Weissbrod will be joined by Gale Murray, Professor of Art History; Rebecca Tucker, Professor of Art History; and Sherrie Wolf, featured artist, for a discussion on the legacy of Artemisia Gentileschi.