10/04/06
Film still from Kenneth Anger’s "Invocation of My Demon Brother" 1969


Currently showing at the New Zealand Film Archive is "Icons" a collection of still images from underground avant-garde filmmaker Kenneth Anger, one of the boldest and most influential artists in film history. The exhibition is curated by New Zealand curator and writer Alice Hutchison who struck up a friendship and working relationship with the famously acerbic director while in Los Angeles where she has been based until recently. Hutchison is the author of "Kenneth Anger: A Demonic Visionary", the first comprehensive and fully illustrated monograph on the filmmaker.

"Icons" presents a series of stills from Anger’s 1969 film "Invocation of My Demon Brother" which the filmmaker said he intended to be "an attack on the sensorium". The film features a soundtrack by Mick Jagger and a performance from Anger himself. It stars Bobby Beausoleil of the "Manson Family" who was convicted for first-degree murder a short time later. The exhibition also features a collection of original posters, photographs and ephemera of Hutchison’s, much of it given to her by Anger from his personal collection. Anger is hoping to make a personal visit in April or May.

The second part of Anger’s series of films "Magick Lantern Cycle" screens at the Film Archive this Thursday at 7pm. This includes the following films:

"Scorpio Rising", 1963
"Kustom Kar Kommandos", 1965
"Invocation of my Demon Brother", 1969
"Lucifer Rising", 1970-80