Jef Cornelis

About

One of the first film-makers to explore the relationships between television and art, documentary and artists' films, Cornelis worked as director for Belgian public television from 1964 until 1998. There he directed incisive documentaries on, among other subjects, the art world and contemporary artists such as Daniel Buren, Marcel Broodthaers and Martial Raysse. His work reconsidered the usual format of television reportage and focused more on reflection, discussion and the development of TV as an insight into the socio-cultural realm. This event includes an introductory lecture on the work of Cornelis by Koen Brams, focusing on early films about the visual arts sceneincluding screenings of: Marcel Broodthaers: Musée d'art du XVIIe siècle, 1969, 4'58''; an excerpt from James Lee Byars: World Question Center, 1969 and Daniel Buren (Wide Whie Space), 1971, 5'. The lecture is followed by a discussion between Koen Brams and Jef Cornelis and the first public screening of Little Sparta, et in arcadia ego, 1986, 41', a film about Ian Hamilton Finlay. Koen Brams is director of the Van Eyck Academy, Maastricht and is co-author (with Dirk Plütau) of The Clandestine Work of Jef Cornelis, 2010. To book tickets please ring 020 7703 6120.