Considered by some to be the “anti-animator,” the artist Robert Breer made some 40 inventive and experimental films that were distinguished by their rapid-fire movements of shapes, lines, letters, figures, live-action images that dart in and out of frame. He became interested in animation while living and exhibiting his hard-edged abstract paintings in Paris in the 1950s, where he discovered the abstract animated films of Hans Richter, Viking Eggeling, Fernand Léger and Walter Ruttmann. Determined to introduce motion into painting, he began creating flipbooks, stop-action films, and animations that can be described as a barrage of images both abstract and absurd. After moving back to the U.S., Breer, along with Stan Brakhage, Jonas Mekas, and Kenneth Anger, became part of the countercultural film scene dubbed New American Cinema. A true pioneer in animation and a seminal figure in the American avant-garde, Breer’s work continues to inspire animators and artists today.
Works Presented Include
REcreation
1956, Dir. Robert Breer
02:00 min, 16mm
A Man and His Dog Out For Air
1957, Dir. Robert Breer
02:00 min, 16mm
Jamestown Baloos
1957, Dir. Robert Breer
05:00 min, 16mm
Eyewash,
1959, Dir. Robert Breer
03:00 min, 16mm
Fist Fight
1964, Dir. Robert Breer
09:00 min, 16mm
69
1968, Dir. Robert Breer
04:30 min, 16mm
Fuji,
1964, Dir. Robert Breer
09:00 min, 16mm
What Goes Up
2003, Dir. Robert Breer
15:00 min, 16mm
