Nitehawk Cinema’s series “ART SEEN” opened for the new year last Thursday with a double screening of several short films by Aïda Ruilova and Robert Longo’s Arena Brains. The series investigates the relationship between visual art and film, as well as representations of the art world in film.
Among Ruilova’s art-house shorts featured was Meet the Eye (2009), a disconcerting and mysterious film featuring cult actress Karen Black and artist Raymond Pettibon.
Longo’s 1987 film Arena Brains starred a young Steve Buscemi, Ray Liotta, and Michael Stipe. Arena Brains captures the art scene in the late 1980s, as juxtaposed against rising Wall Street culture.
Nitehawk’s next ART SEEN screening will be Edgar G. Ulmer’s 1944 film Bluebeard on February 20. Bluebeard, a film about an artist who must kill every woman he paints, was one of the first serial killer movies.