film070 x NiceFlaps present: Caravaggio

Nice Flaps and film070 are pleased to invite you to Caravaggio by the one and only Derek Jarman (1986) – a film screening to draw from.

Join us Wednesday 14 January, 18:00, at Filmhuis, where we’ll use drawing to enhance our experience of cinema. The film reimagines the life of the iconic Baroque painter Caravaggio. We’ll engage in short drawing exercises before and after the screening, and introduce prompts to guide you to draw during the film itself. We’ll focus on elements such as chiaroscuro (light and shadow), the multi-representational body (the body as both a cinematic presence and a painted subject), and the relationship between life and art.

Drawing materials provided. All skill levels welcome – no pressure to make perfect drawings, just a desire to watch, draw, and experience the film in relation to the act of drawing.

“Beautifully lit, vibrant with colour, and carefully, if minimally, designed… The film is about the world as represented in Caravaggio’s paintings, and was made to look just like them. Jarman clearly identified with the reputedly gay renaissance painter, who had an ambiguous relationship with his patrons and instead preferred to mix with and paint the people from the street.” BFI

“This turns the painting into something queer, motivated by desire – and not just the painting, but the act of making art itself. Jarman challenges the idea of where art comes from, and what these paintings mean for a contemporary audience. He forces us to reconsider what we know or don’t know about the director’s own life and work, as well as the historical narrative of respectability – in this case, heterosexuality – that is so often associated with art history. Jarman refuses to allow notions of queerness to be relegated to the subtext, instead foregrounding them in how and why his Caravaggio makes art.” Little White Lies