For Immediate Release
August 28, 2023
CLARK ART INSTITUTE SCREENS KILLER OF SHEEP
Presentation is First Installment in Research and Academic Program/Clark Conference
Film Series: The L.A. Rebellion
Williamstown, Massachusetts—On Thursday, September 21, the Clark Art Institute kicks off its four-part film series examining the L.A. Rebellion, presented in celebration and anticipation of the Clark’s 2023 Conference, “The Fetish A(r)t Work: African Objects in the Making of European Art History, 1500–1900.” The Clark shows Killer of Sheep at 6 pm in its auditorium, located in the Manton Research Center.
Directed by Charles Burnett, Killer of Sheep (1977; 1 hour, 21 minutes), became one of the L.A. Rebellion’s most widely celebrated films for years. The focus is slaughterhouse worker Stan (novelist, playwright, and actor Henry Gayle Sanders) whose dispiriting job wears him down, alienates him from his family, and becomes an unspoken metaphor for the ongoing pressures of economic malaise. Drawing inspiration from Jean Renoir’s sun-dappled and racially sensitive The Southerner (1945) as well as the poetic documentaries of Basil Wright (one of Burnett’s teachers at UCLA), such as Song of Ceylon (1934) and Night Mail (1936), Killer of Sheep achieves a deeply felt intensity with nonprofessional actors and handheld location shooting.
Free. For more information, visit clarkart.edu/events.
The next screening in the RAP/Clark Conference Film Series is Bless Their Little Hearts on Thursday, September 28 at 6 pm in the Clark’s auditorium.
ABOUT THE CLARK
The Clark Art Institute, located in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, is one of a small number of institutions globally that is both an art museum and a center for research, critical discussion, and higher education in the visual arts. Opened in 1955, the Clark houses exceptional European and American paintings and sculpture, extensive collections of master prints and drawings, English silver, and early photography. Acting as convener through its Research and Academic Program, the Clark gathers an international community of scholars to participate in a lively program of conferences, colloquia, and workshops on topics of vital importance to the visual arts. The Clark library, consisting of some 300,000 volumes, is one of the nation’s premier art history libraries. The Clark also houses and co-sponsors the Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art.
The Clark, which has a three-star rating in the Michelin Green Guide, is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Its 140-acre campus includes miles of hiking and walking trails through woodlands and meadows, providing an exceptional experience of art in nature. Galleries are open 10 am to 5 pm Tuesday through Sunday, from September through June, and daily in July and August. Admission is free January through March and is $20 from March through December; admission is free year-round for Clark members, all visitors age 21 and under, and students with a valid student ID. Free admission is also available through several programs, including First Sundays Free; a local library pass program; and EBT Card to Culture. For information on these programs and more, visit clarkart.edu or call 413 458 2303.
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