“State of the Art,” a film by award-winning filmmakers Craig and Brent Renaud about the 2014-15 Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art exhibition of the same name, will get a free preview screening at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 13, at the Ron Robinson Theater in the River Market district. The film will then be aired on AETN at 8 p.m. Friday, April 26.
The film focuses on seven of the 102 contemporary artists of emerging fame whose works were chosen by then-Crystal Bridges Director Don Bacigalupi a year of studio tours across the country. The seven include Fayetteville ceramicist Linda Lopez, a University of Arkansas art professor who creates vaguely organic plant forms and has been the subject of the Times feature “Making the Abstract Come Alive”; Carl Joe Williams of New Orleans, who paints stylized scenes inspired by the Big Easy; Justin Favela of Los Angeles, who draws on his Chicano background to create iconoclastic sculpture; Peter Glenn Oakley of Banner Elk, N.C., who carves in marble; Susie J. Lee of Seattle, who creates 30-minute video portraits (one of which is on exhibit now in the permanent collection gallery); Teri Greeves of Santa Fe, who places Kiowa beadwork on everyday objects; and Vanessa German of Pittsburgh, who uses dolls to create black “power figures.”
A panel discussion with Crystal Bridges curator Lauren Haynes, Craig Renaud and others will follow the film at Ron Robinson. In celebration of the television premiere, Crystal Bridges will host a watch party in its Great Hall starting at 7 p.m. Register online or by calling 479-657-2335 for the free event.
“State of the Art II” will open in early 2020 at Crystal Bridges and the Momentary, a new arts space under construction in Bentonville.