Skip navigation

Main menu

  • What's on
  • Art & Artists
    • The Collection
      Artists
      Artworks
      Art by theme
      Media
      Videos
      Podcasts
      Short articles
      Learning
      Schools
      Art Terms
      Tate Research
      Art Making
      Create like an artist
      Kids art activities
      Tate Draw game
  • Visit
  • Shop
Become a Member
  • DISCOVER ART
  • ARTISTS A-Z
  • ARTWORK SEARCH
  • ART BY THEME
  • VIDEOS
  • ART TERMS
  • SCHOOLS
  • TATE KIDS
  • RESEARCH
  • Tate Britain
    Tate Britain Free admission
  • Tate Modern
    Tate Modern Free admission
  • Tate Liverpool + RIBA North
    Tate Liverpool + RIBA North Free admission
  • Tate St Ives
    Tate St Ives Ticket or membership card required
  • FAMILIES
  • ACCESSIBILITY
  • SCHOOLS
  • PRIVATE TOURS
Tate Logo
Become a Member
Tate Modern Film

Independent Frames: American Experimental Animation in the 1970s 1980s

17–19 February 2017
​Frank and Caroline Mouris Frank Film 1973, film still. Courtesy the artists

​Frank and Caroline Mouris, Frank Film 1973, film still. Courtesy the artists

​Explore daring and formally-groundbreaking animation works stemming from an era of energy and invention

This series examines the work of a group of American artists who approached film through independently-produced, frame-by-frame animations in the 1970s and 80s. Made primarily by artists with no formal animation training, the selection of films in this programme incorporates autobiography, visual fantasy, abstraction, medium specificity and biting satire. Several works were broadcast at the time and others distributed on home video, affording these artists a level of success and reach beyond that which other artist-filmmakers of their era could attain.

Building on the work of earlier generations of experimental animators such as Mary Ellen Bute, Standish Lawder, Harry Smith and Stan Vanderbeek – some of whose works are included in these screenings – this new generation of filmmakers elaborated on inherited techniques and proceeded to pioneer their own. Some artists explored cel and hand-drawn animation (Sally Cruikshank, Suzan Pitt, Mary Beams) while others explored new directions in kinetic collage (Frank Mouris, Paul Glabicki). Some used flicker and abstraction (Robert Russett, Adam Beckett, Barry Spinello) and others explored the affective potential of film through psychedelic fantasy (Sky David, Lisa Crafts). Through five screening programmes, Independent Frames: American Experimental Animation in the 1970s + 1980s highlights themes of the body and sexuality, abstraction and psychedelia, structure and composition, autobiographical reflection and the influence of commercial animation.

Lending historical context to recent developments in both animation studies and the role of animation in contemporary art, the series is a timely investigation of this era of invention and energy in experimental animation, suggesting a landscape of artists whose work needs to be considered anew.    

Independent Frames: American Experimental Animation in the 1970s + 1980s is curated by Herb Shellenberger with Tate Film.

Tate Modern

Starr Cinema

Bankside
London SE1 9TG
Plan your visit

Dates

17–19 February 2017

Past events

Left Right
  • Frank Mouris You're Not Real Pretty But You're Mine... 1968, film still. Courtesy the artist and the Yale Film Study Center
    Film PAST EVENT

    Exploded View

    Discover the underground animation scene of the 1960s​

    Tate Modern
    17 Feb 2017
  • ​Paul Glabicki, Object Conversation 1985, film still. Courtesy Canyon Cinema
    Film PAST EVENT

    Shape and structure

    Discover the work of avant-garde animators including Paul Glabicki, Robert Russett and Barry Spinello 

    Tate Modern
    18 Feb 2017
  • Lisa Crafts, Desire Pie 1976, film still. Courtesy the artist
    Film PAST EVENT

    Bodymania

    See how artists explore eroticism, sexual activity and fantasy through animation

    Tate Modern
    18 Feb 2017
  • Film PAST EVENT

    Introspection

    See how selected American animators intewined their lives and personalities into their films

    Tate Modern
    19 Feb 2017
  • Sally Cruikshank, Quasi at the Quackadero 1975, film still. Courtesy the artist
    Film PAST EVENT

    Underground Cartoons

    Explore how artists incorporate classic, comedic and studio-based cartoons in their radical, bohemian and idiosyncratic creations

    Tate Modern
    19 Feb 2017
Artwork
Close

Join in

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
Sign up to emails

Sign up to emails

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Tate’s privacy policy

About

  • About us
  • Our collection
  • Terms and copyright
  • Governance
  • Picture library
  • ARTIST ROOMS
  • Tate Kids

Support

  • Tate Collective
  • Members
  • Patrons
  • Donate
  • Corporate
  • My account
  • Press
  • Jobs
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Cookies
  • Contact
© The Board of Trustees of the Tate Gallery, 2025
All rights reserved