“ A major artist… (A) conscientious and moving documentary (that makes) ample and judicious use of Hesse’s letters and diaries… Among her closest confidants was Sol LeWitt… Their correspondence is clearly a remarkable trove of art world gossip, fraternal feeling and critical insights, and it provides this film its emotional and intellectual grounding. A story of mastery and self-discovery. Conveys a vivid sense of the sexual politics of the New York art world in the 1960s. An indispensable aid to understanding and appreciating a fascinating artist.”

– A.O. Scott, The New York Times
Read the full review here. 

 

Eva Hesse (1936-1970) is one of America’s foremost postwar artists. Her pioneering sculptures, using latex, fiberglass, and plastics, helped establish the post-minimalist movement. Dying of a brain tumor at age 34, she had a mere decade-long career that, despite its brevity, is dense with complex, intriguing works that defy easy categorization. EVA HESSE, the first feature-length appreciation of her life and work, makes superb use of the artist’s voluminous journals, her correspondence with close friend and mentor Sol LeWitt, and contemporary as well as archival interviews with fellow artists (among them, Richard Serra, Robert Mangold, Dan Graham) who recall her passionate, ambitious, tenacious personality. Art critic Arthur Danto has written that her work is: “full of life, of eros, even of comedy… Each piece vibrates with originality and mischief.” The documentary captures these qualities, but also the psychic struggles of an artist who, in the downtown New York art scene of the 1960s, was one of the few women to make work that was taken seriously in a field dominated by male pop artists and minimalists.  −Karen Cooper, Film Forum

STARTS FRIDAY MAY 13 IN LOS ANGELES

MONICA FILM CENTER
1332 2ND ST., SANTA MONICA (310) 478-3836
BUY TICKETS ONLINE!: www.laemmle.com
Showtimes: 10:45 (Sat/Sun only); 1:30, 4:20, 7:10, 9:55pm

WITH SATURDAY/SUNDAY 11AM MATINEE SHOWS AT:

CLAREMONT 5
450 West 2nd Street, CLAREMONT, 310-478-3836

TOWN CENTER 5
17200 Ventura Blvd., ENCINO, 310-478-3836

PLAYHOUSE 7
673 East Colorado Blvd., PASADENA, 310-478-3836

MOVING OVER BY POPULAR DEMAND!
STARTS FRIDAY MAY 13 IN NEW YORK

VILLAGE EAST CINEMA
2ND AVE. at 12TH ST., NEW YORK (212) 529-6998
BUY TICKETS ONLINE!: www.citycinemas.com
Showtimes: Friday 1:30pm; Sat - Thurs: 4:30, 7:00 and 9:30pm

LAST DAY THURSDAY MAY 12

209 West Houston St, West of 6th Ave, NEW YORK
BUY TICKETS ONLINE!: www.filmforum.org
Showtimes: 12:30, 2:45, 5:10, 7:30, 9:50pm

ALSO PLAYING

AND COMING SOON TO

WATCH THE TRAILER

A ZEITGEIST FILMS RELEASE