Joel Shapiro
New Installation
February 2 – March 18 2012
Rice University Art Gallery
6100 Main Street
Houston, Texas 77005

-M&A

The title is shared with that of a recent exhibition of Paula’s work, but also references Paula’s duality as an Artist and Administrator. It was really wonderful to work with Paula on this film, she is a great supporter of our work and an incredible Artist and Leader in our community.
View more image on our Flickr.

-M&A

Our latest short documentary film following Photographer Isa Leshko has been receiving an incredible amount of attention since it was released at the end of November. With nearly 80 thousand views to date, it’s been featured on The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR Picture Show, My Modern Met and the Vimeo HD Channel. Learn more about Isa online at www.IsaLeshko.com.

M&A

Rice University Art Gallery’s current exhibition Salon of Beauty features the beautiful handmade work of Los Angeles based Artist Ana Serrano. The film unveils the process required to bring Ana’s previously small scale sculptures to nearly life size inside of Rice Gallery. The completed exhibition is a colorful landscape inspired by South L.A. neighborhoods where small and often overlooked details are playfully mixed together. Visit www.AnaSerrano.com. Learn more about the exhibition at www.RiceGallery.org.

Stay tuned for the completed film! Until then, visit www.AnaSerrano.com and learn more about the exhibition at www.RiceGallery.org.

M&A

Gary was kind enough to lend us a few of his pieces so we could take our time filming them for the documentary. Mark spent an afternoon testing lighting and backdrops. It had been a while since we’d done set-up shoots, so it was good practice.

This was filmed in our home Studio where our lovely cat Lola dwells. She was really interested in the Eskimo Kisser, particularly the colorful wool nose. She got a quick Eskimo Kiss/Sniff in before she found something else to investigate.

These last two images were taken by Mark during filming Eskimo Kisser #2. We were hoping to feature the beautiful color and detail in the work. Learn more about Gary’s work on his portfolio website. Update: Watch the film.

-M&A

p.s. The title Wonder Object comes from Gary’s blog of the same name. Read it here.

We spent a lot of time writing our answers about working together. It’s not that often that we really think about how we’re able to work together so well and so often. I think it comes from how close we’ve been since the beginning of our relationship and how we’ve never let that go. The most fun we had working on the article was creating our handwritten responses to “My favorite thing about my work is…” We wanted to create images that completed that response, but also included the media we work with in some way. Mark’s response was written on a blank DVD among a collection of our DVD films.

My response was written on a MiniDV tape from our old Canon camera. Tape is fastly becoming an obsolete media, but we have an extensive library of tapes that we continue to add to. We hope you enjoy reading the article as much as we enjoyed working on it!

xo angie

We hope you will join us Thursday, August 25th at 6:30pm in the Chiego Lecture Hall at The McNay Art Museum for a special screening of our collaborative films from the past three years. This event is free for McNay Members, $5 for non-members.

Event Program

• Jimmy Kuehnle’s Big Red and Walking Fish, 2009.
• Youth Divers, 2009.
• Journey of the Opportunist, 2008.
• Sunset Hill, 2009.
• Angel Necklace, 2009.
• Ken Little, 2010.
• Chris Sauter, 2010.
• At the Hour of Our Death, 2010.
• Hills Snyder, Casual Observer, 2010.
• Night Photography: Finding your way in the dark, 2011.
• Northwest Corner, Southeast Light, 2011.
• New Image Sculpture, 2011.
• Blue Star Iron Pour, 2011.
• Jennifer Ling Datchuk, 2011.
• Ryan Takaba: Mums and Water, 2011.

In other Journey related news, the original version of the film will make it’s television debut on THE TERRITORY Channel 8, HoustonPBS September 19th at 10PM. We’re so proud to be part of the longest running showcase of independent film on public television. Visit THE TERRITORY online.

Learn more about Jennifer’s work on her website. Watch the film on our portfolio site.

We stayed in the Perry Mansion with Scott, Lance and a workshop participant named Vincent.
Aside from the scorpions, the mansion was an incredible place to stay during our four night trip.
The Perry Mansion porch had a magnificent view of the mountains and the Ghost Town below.
Sitting out there with a bowl of cereal was a wonderful way to start each morning.

Terlingua has a fascinating history with all kinds of man made ruins nestled into the landscape.

Scott and Lance gathered the workshop participates in the Terlingua Church each afternoon for
daily lessons. The Church was such a beautifully unique place to be in. The way the light came
through the windows was pretty incredible.

On the second day of our trip we visited the Villa de la Mina, a historic mine in Terlingua. The
sunset seemed particularly beautiful that day, so we took a few photos of our own.

The mine had a horizontal shaft which allowed us to walk straight into it from the side of a large
hill. It was such an incredible experience to be deep underground in an abandoned mine. The group
of participates that went into the mine with us made the experience really fun and interesting.
Below: Angela points out calcite crystals in the mine ceiling.

On the third night we visited several “Road Side Distractions” as Scott and Lance called them.
There were all kinds of interesting locations along the road leading into Terlingua that made for
interesting subjects to photograph. Below: Mark tries his hand at Night Photography.

We really enjoyed our time out in West Texas and hope to make the trip out again soon time.
Watch the Completed film: Night Photography: Finding your way in the dark

M&A

Mark and I are producing a new comedy web series entitled MONO SHOW. We have teamed up with Jeremiah Teutsch and Matthew Van Hellen on the show and are very excited to share with you the promotional video:

Learn more at www.monoshow.com

We completed the film in celebration of Hills’ birthday just yesterday!

View more photos from this series on our Flickr page.

Houston after dark

Wednesday was opening night at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. The festival had arranged for us to be driven there with other filmmakers also staying at our hotel. I didn’t recognize him at first, but two time academy award nominated animator Bill Plympton shared a ride over to the museum with us. He was on the phone most of the time talking about his latest feature film “Idiots and Angels“. We walked the red carpet upon arrival and a photographer was nice enough to use our camera for a photo.

Mark and Angela Walley on the Cinema Arts Festival Red Carpet

Opening Night at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston

There was a really great turn out at the Museum, everyone was there to see John Turturro’s new film “Passione”, a musical journey through Naples, Italy. Turturro was in attendance and talked to the audience about his film and his love for the music of Naples.

Angela Walley with John Turturro

Friday night at MFAH was the program “An Evening with Isabella Rossellini”. “My Wild Life”, an intimate portrait of Rossellini’s remarkable career screened before she was presented with the Levantine Cinema Arts Award. Following the presentation was a screening of several shorts from Rossellini’s new Sundance Channel series Seduce Me. Artistic Director Richard Herskowitz then spoke with Rossellini about her work.

Isabella Rossellini at MFAH

Isabella Rossellini discusses her work

She was so beautiful and funny, it was a really wonderful program to have attended. We then headed over to Frenetic Theater for Brent Green’s Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then. It was a very powerful film and performance with Green, Donna K. and accompaniment by Brendan Canty, Drew Henkel & John Michael Swartz. We had the opportunity to join Brent and Donna for dinner after the opening night party at MFAH. Brent became an instant mentor to us and was very open about his work and his success as both an artist and filmmaker. We felt an immediate connection with both of them and hope to stay in touch. Here are some photos Mark took during their performance on Friday night.

Brent Green, Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then

Donna K., Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then

Video still from Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then

The whole gang was super nice and down to earth. We got a quick silly photo one night at a festival after party. Donna gave us a shout out on her blog over here.

Mark Walley, Brent Green, Donna K., Angela Walley, Drew Henkel and John Michael Swartz

Bill Plympton was part of a series of presentations called “Meet the Makers” sponsored by Southwest Alternate Media Project (SWAMP). We love SWAMP, they are the amazing organization we received our Emerging Filmmakers Grant from in 2008.

Bill Plympton at Cinema Arts Festival Houston

I love Bill’s advice for making successful films: Make them Short, Cheap and Funny. That dogma has really worked for him. He screened a series of his animated shorts and talked about his life and how he became the animator he is today. His dedication to animation is something to be admired. After his presentation he sat outside the theater to draw a character and sign postcards for the whole audience. After attending two of his screenings Mark and I collected three cows and a dog.

Bill Plympton

Saturday afternoon we screened a 40 minute program of our short documentaries about Texas based artists. We are so grateful to Alfred Cervantes, Deputy Director of the Houston Film Commission. Alfred did an amazing job hosting the screening and moderating our Q&A afterwards. We talked a little about how much we love working with artists and projects we have planned for the future.

Still from "At the Hour of Our Death"

We spent the last three nights in Houston at The Art Guy’s studio apartment. Michael and his wife Rainey Knudson, Founder and Director of Glasstire.com were so kind and accommodating.

The Art Guy's Jesus Room

I have to say it was the most comfortable and unique place we’ve ever stayed. We’re definitely looking forward to having a place to stay when we visit Houston in the future.

Angela Walley in The Art Guy's Jesus Room

Sunday was the final day of the festival. We were very much looking forward to seeing one of our favorite Fellini films 8 1/2 at the MFAH. It was a completely different experience from seeing it on our TV at home. It was a very nice way to end our trip in Houston.

Ending title

They are doing some amazing things over at the Cinema Arts Festival Houston. Special thanks to Executive Director Trish Rigdon and Artist Director Richard Herskowitz, as well as everyone who worked so hard to put this incredible Film Festival together. We hope to be a part of Cinema Arts Festival Houston for many years to come.

Walley Films at Cinema Arts Festival Houston

Saturday, November 13 · 4:00pm – 5:00pm
Houston Visitors Center Continental Theater; City Hall
901 Bagby, 77002 Houston, TX

Parking will be available in Theatre district parking entrance on Rusk between Bagby and Smith.

Visit b-side for more information · Download the Festival Guide

Update: Unfortunately we will not be able to screen a preview of our upcoming documentary with artist Vincent Valdez. Please stay tuned for future details.

Video Stills and Photographs by Mark Walley.

Vincent Valdez painting in his studio, photo by Mark Walley

We’ve begun filming with artist Vincent Valdez this month for a new short documentary about his work. We’ll be focusing on a particular project he is working on that involves a large scale painting, animation and a musical performance/recording with Ry Cooder.

Angela Walley runs a second camera, photo by Mark Walley

Vincent has been really great to work with. He welcomed us into his studio and has already made incredible progress with his work. This project has the potential to exceed our normal eight minute short documentary length, which would be great. We’re really excited about where this project is headed and getting a chance to work with such a talented artist.