Chick Strand, Angel Blue Sweet Wings, 1967, film still Courtesy of Academy Film Archive
Chick Strand, Waterfall, 1967, film still Courtesy of Academy Film Archive
Chick Strand, Kristallnacht, 1979, film still Courtesy of Academy Film Archive
Chick Strand, Anselmo, 1967, film still Courtesy of Academy Film Archive
Paradise was a central and elusive subject of Strand's work motivating her investigations of other cultures, from her travels in Mexico to her interest in psychedelia. These films blend Strand’s fascinating with abstraction from her lyrical early beat films such as Angel Blue Sweet Wings 1967 and the psychedelic Waterfall 1967 made with help from fellow filmmaker Pat O'Neill. Her remarkable film Fake Fruit Factory 1986 show the women’s labour behind exotic talismans of paper mache fruits. Sensuality and desire are ever present in Strand’s work, from her depiction of the carnal sport of Bullfighting and teenage masculinity in Guacamole 1976, to one of her most hypnotic films Artificial Paradise 1986 a tribute to innocence and beauty.
Angel Blue Sweet Wings
Chick Strand, USA 1967, Super8 blow up to 16mm, colour 4 mins
Preserved by the Academy Film Archive and the Pacific Film Archive
Anselmo
Chick Strand, USA/Mexico 1967, 16mm, colour, sound, 4 mins
Guacamole
Chick Strand, USA/Mexico 1976, 16mm, colour, sound, 10 min
Waterfall
Chick Strand, USA 1967, 16mm, black & white, sound, 3 min
Preserved by the Academy Film Archive and the Pacific Film Archive
Loose Ends
Chick Strand, 1979, 16mm, black & white, sound, 25 min
Kristallnacht
Chick Strand, 1979, 16mm, black & white, sound, 7 min
Preserved by the Academy Film Archive and the Pacific Film Archive
Fake Fruit Factory
Chick Strand, USA/Mexico 1986, 16mm, colour, sound, 22 min
Artificial Paradise
Chick Strand, USA/Mexico 1986, 16mm, colour, sound, 12 min
Preserved by the Academy Film Archive and the Pacific Film Archive
Programme duration: 90 min
Prints courtesy of the Academy Film Archive