The Kevin Jerome Everson film series opens with previews of the artist's recently completed worls, Rhino, Polly One, Round Seven and A Good Fight, presented ahead of their 2018 premieres. The latter two films together with IFO form part of a body of work Everson is currently making about people, objects or elements from his hometown of Mansfield, Ohio, that have been represented in television, film or other popular media. Rhino marks a departure from the local focus of these works, taking us to Florence circa 1530s to explore the days leading up to the assassination of Alessandro de’ Medici, a duke born to an African servant in the Medici household. Picking up on Everson’s 2012 short film Rhinoceros, the film broadens the scope of the artist’s look at the movement and backstories of people of African descent.
The screening is followed by a Q&A with the artist.
Programme
IFO
United States 2017, 16mm transferred to digital, black and white, sound, 10 min
Historic UFO sightings over Mansfield are evoked through memory, report and gesture.
Rhino
United States 2018, HD, colour, sound, 23 min, Italian and French with English subtitles
An enactment of the last days of Alessandro de’ Medici, who was named the first Duke of Florence in 1532. De Medici was assassinated by his cousin Lorenzino five years into his rule.
Polly One
United States 2018, 16mm transferred to digital, colour, silent, 6 min
Filmed during the August 2017 solar eclipse, Polly One is about ninety-nine percent totality.
Round Seven
United States 2018, 16mm transferred to digital, colour, sound, 19 min
Round Seven centres on mysterious occurrences in and around the city of Mansfield including UFO sightings, the closing of Mansfield Tire and the famous 1978 boxing match between Sugar Ray Leonard and local prizefighter Art McKnight.
A Good Fight
United States 2018, 16mm transferred to digital, black and white, sound, 2 min
A gentlemen recalls the play-by-play of the 1978 fight re-enacted in Round Seven.
