Agnes Martin - Before the Grid The Life & Work of an Abstract Expressionist Painter
Agnes Martin is one of the most important artists of the twentieth century. Before she died in 2004 at the age of ninety-two, her paintings sold for millions of dollars and were displayed in the world's greatest museums.
Through interviews with friends, lovers and classmates who knew her well, insight is gained into Agnes Martin's personality and the development of her creative process before she became known for her grid paintings.
Running Time
57 mins
Year
2016
Kanopy ID
1475566
Filmmakers
Features
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Comments (2)
Agnes Martin was and remains the model of the dedicated artist who finds and follows her own way in spite of hardship and doubt. This documentary is an inspiration.
This film was made out of an appreciation and curiosity of Agnes Martin. The idea
stemmed from an exhibition curated by Jina Brenneman at the Harwood Museum of
Art in Taos, NM in 2012 titled, Agnes Martin Before the Grid. Jina explained that in
doing research for the exhibit ...Read more
This film was made out of an appreciation and curiosity of Agnes Martin. The idea
stemmed from an exhibition curated by Jina Brenneman at the Harwood Museum of
Art in Taos, NM in 2012 titled, Agnes Martin Before the Grid. Jina explained that in
doing research for the exhibit she found that very little was known about the early
life and work of this iconic artist. She recognized that the people who knew about
this period of her life were either very aged or dead. The idea was to gather the oral
histories and memories from friends, lovers and classmates that spent time with the
artist and knew of her challenges and processes as she worked her way to what
became her famous grid paintings.
By uncovering these stories, a more complete picture of the lesbian artist who lived
Read lesswith schizophrenia and poverty is revealed. A woman who struggled and was
tormented, yet achieved world fame in spite of it. The stories told by her friends
were so compelling and interesting, we decided to make a movie. Every creative
person has their challenges to reach their goals and to find themselves to be the
artist they are. As Agnes said, you don’t have a choice, you have to do the work. This
is the story we wish to share.