A new documentary film directed by Richard Kane, J. Fred Woell: An American Vision celebrates the pioneering metal artist who created work with wit, satire, and meaning. Woell is legendary in the metalsmithing community, best known for his playful pins, pendants, and sculptures that draw on pop culture, found toys, and other objects.
This screening, which marks the film’s Boston premiere, will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker and special guests Claire Sanford, Susan H. Hamlet,
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A new documentary film directed by Richard Kane, J. Fred Woell: An American Vision celebrates the pioneering metal artist who created work with wit, satire, and meaning. Woell is legendary in the metalsmithing community, best known for his playful pins, pendants, and sculptures that draw on pop culture, found toys, and other objects.
This screening, which marks the film’s Boston premiere, will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker and special guests Claire Sanford, Susan H. Hamlet, Alan Burton Thompson and Heather White.
In 1965, J. Fred Woell took his cast silver jewelry to New York City galleries and was turned down flat. “Use gold or forget it,” they said. A confirmed contrarian, Woell vowed to make jewelry from material of no value, inspiring the term “anti-jewelry.” Nearly fifty years later, he was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of North American Goldsmiths. Woell’s innovative work influenced hundreds of students through mentorships, workshops and his famous educational handouts. Woell’s work equally awes those attracted to the engineering and mechanical aspect of the pieces, as well as those more focused on the strong social message. His work is house at museums across the country, including the Cranbrook Academy of Art, MAD Museum in NYC, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Racine Art Museum in Wisconsin, Fuller Craft Museum in Massachusetts, the Renwick Gallery in DC and the Metal Museum in Tennessee, among others.
For more information visit: https://www.jfredwoellfilms.org or contact us at jfredwoellfilms@gmail.com
For maps, public transport info and parking visit: https://massart.edu/maps-parking
About Richard Kane
Richard is an independent director whose work is focused on the intersection of art and contemporary American life. Previous film releases include, I Know a Man …Ashley Bryan and Imber´s Left Hand, both part of the Maine Masters collection, a New England Emmy-nominated series of now 18 portraits that airs on public television. With partner MELODY LEWIS-KANE, their company, Kane-Lewis Productions, has worked for National Geographic, The Discovery Channel, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the White House Office of Technology Policy among many others. Kane-Lewis produced the Natural Resources Council of Maine’s 50th anniversary film Protecting the Nature of Maine, an indie doc ROCK SOLID: The Schoodic International Sculpture Symposium and the classic award-winning documentary M.C. Richards: The Fire Within. From 2007-2016 Richard served as chair of the Maine Film Association.
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