UrbanArtistry Presents… Next: A Primer on Urban Painting at Cultplex
Tom Grieve, Cinema Editor
This February, street art film specialists UrbanArtistry are back with a with a special 20th anniversary Q&A screening of Next: A Primer on Urban Painting. Taking audiences from the USA and Canada, to France, Germany, England, Spain, Japan and Brazil, this jet setting documentary introduces painters, “writers”, designers and members of the global street art community who show us their work and illustrate modern graffiti’s evolution from its inception in ’70s Brooklyn.
Made at the start of the digital revolution, Aravena shot his film on a combination of digital video, Super-16 and 35mm, borrowing equipment and using patchwork funding to assemble a collage of footage into a film that’s as free and dynamic as the work of his subjects. The director will be at Cultplex to answer your questions and discuss the five years it took to make the film, and his experience spending time with urban artists from across the world.
Aravena has cited influences from Mike Leigh to Harmony Korine to Martin Scorsese in the past, and his film Chile Estyle, which focussed more specifically on the director’s native Chile, also played as part of UrbanArtistry’s ongoing series of street art screenings. In addition to a Q&A following Next: A Primer on Urban Painting, Aravena is also bringing along some extra bonus footage for audiences to enjoy, and as always, make sure you get down to Cultplex early for food, drink and conversation at host venue Grub from 6pm.
