Tate Modern

2010 | Birds of Paradise

The Tate strand pairs early film treasures with experimental films of the American Underground to reveal the opulence, artifice and excess in both. Sumptuous masterpieces by Segundo de Chomón, Gaston Velle and Ferdinand Zecca join riotous explosions in colour, costume and camp by legendary experimental filmmakers Kenneth Anger, Jack Smith, Ron Rice, José Rodriguez-Soltero, Steven Arnold and performer Mario Montez. Co-curated by Marketa Uhlirova, Ronald Gregg and Stuart Comer.

 

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Underground Opulence

Bursting with colour, this programme reconnects the avant-garde queer sensibility of the underground film not with its literal inspirations... More »

Unrestrained Indulgence

Floating in archival time and space, this programme incorporates an anonymous 1920s film fragment full of erotic mystique and sensuousness, the decadent peacockery of 1960s underground films... More »

Drag Glamour

This programme pairs José Rodríguez-Soltero’s lavish Lupe with Ron Rice’s landmark psychedelic masterpiece Chumlum. It features two of the most accomplished uses of superimposition in underground film, transporting drag glamour into a psychedelic, cubist-like dimension... More »