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Selfportrait

Film still from "Selfportrait" by Maria Lassnig. It shows a drawing with a portrait of a person who has a pineapple for a face.
Still from SELFPORTRAIT by Maria Lassnig © Maria Lassnig Stiftung / Courtesy sixpackfilm
  • Director

    Maria Lassnig

  • Austria, USA / 1971
    5 min / Original version

  • Original language

    English

A self-portrait with a stick. This film was completed in the same year as the painting, the facial expressions are similar. “The face of phases”. What’s new are the lyrics and her voice: “Until you are gone with the wind, be aware”. Film 5 of the Forum Special programme “Ten Short Films by Maria Lassnig”, which we are showing to complement Anja Salomonowitz’s film Sleeping with a Tiger from the Forum main programme. Maria Lassnig’s cinematic works are exercises in body transformations: Gratifying frictions, lively critiques, wonderful ideas, sometimes hand-drawn and sung by the director herself. Sketches and animation. Ideas about women in relationships are put slyly in motion. (Christiane Büchner)

1. Baroque Statues, 1970-74
2. Encounter, 1970
3. Iris, 1971
4. Chairs, 1971
5. Selfportrait, 1971
6. Shapes, 1972
7. Couples, 1972
8. Palmistry, 1974
9. Art Education, 1976
10. The Ballad of Maria Lassnig, co-directed by Hubert Sielecki, 1992

Maria Lassnig, born in Kappel am Krappfeld in 1919. Graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. Since 1950 international exhibitions and awards. Together with Arnulf Rainer and Oswald Oberhuber founded the informal painting movement in Austria. Lived abroad in Paris (1961–68) and New York (1968–1980). Member of Women/Artist/ Filmmakers, Inc. New York (1974–80). 1980–90 Professor of the Master Class for Experimental Design at the College of Applied Arts in Vienna. Founded the only Austrian teaching studio for animated film in 1982. Maria Lassnig died in Vienna in 2014.

Director Maria Lassnig.

World sales Sixpackfilm

Films (selection): 1970: Baroque Statues (short film), Encounter (animation). 1971: Iris (short film), Chairs (animation), Selfportrait. 1972: Shapes (animation), Couples (animation). 1974: Palmistry (animation). 1976: Art Education (animation). 1992: Maria Lassnig Kantate / The Ballad of Maria Lassnig (co-driected by Hubert Sielecki, short film).

Bonus Material

Essays, Film Info Sheet, Forum film sheet and Discussion

  • Film still from "Encounter" by Maria Lassnig. It shows a drawn animation of two figures. A square with spikes and a face and a pink blob with a face. They are looking at each other.

    Discussion

    A conversation between Michael Loebenstein, Mara Mattuschka, and Hans Werner Poschauko about Maria Lassnig’s Filmic Estate
  • Film still from "Palmistry" by Maria Lassnig. It shows two people sitting opposite each other. The person on the left is wearing glitter gloves and holding the hand of the person on the right.

    Essay

    In this text, first published in 1973, Maria Lassnig reflects on her work in animated films

  • Film still from "Iris" by Maria Lassnig. It shows two naked legs stretched up in the air. The image is overlaid with a close-up of a person.

    Film info sheet 1978

    A document that accompanied the 1978 Arsenal screening of Maria Lassnig's animated and experimental films

  • Film still from "Couples" by Maria Lassnig. It shows a room with organized posters on the walls. Eyes are portrayed on the posters. A man with a towel around his waist looks at them.

    Forum film sheet 1979

    The original Forum film sheet that accompanied the screening of Maria Lassnig’s animated films at the 1979 Forum

  • Film still from "Chairs" by Maria Lassnig. It shows a drawing of two figures sitting on chairs.

    Essay

    A text by Maya McKechneay analyzing the “canonical” films of Maria Lassnig

  • Film still from "Iris" by Maria Lassnig. It shows a close-up of a face in which only one eye, hair and part of the nose can be seen.

    "Kommt vorbei im Käuzchensteig"

    Ulrike Ottinger remembers Maria Lassnig (external link in German)

Funded by:

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