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Artist, filmmaker, and scholar Isaac Julien discusses his multi-screen video
installation The Long Road to Mazatlán at The Fabric
Workshop and Museum in 2001. Created in collaboration with Venezuelan dancer
and choreographer Javier de Frutos, The Long Road to Mazatlán is
a playful yet powerful exploration of seduction and voyeurism using iconic
representations of the cowboy in the landscape of the American West.
Isaac Julien came to prominence in the film world with his 1989
drama-documentary Looking for Langston, a poetic exploration of
Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance, which gained him a cult
following. This following was expanded in 1991 when his film Young Soul
Rebels won the Semaine de la Critique prize for best film at the Cannes
Film Festival. One of the objectives of Julien's work is to break down the
barriers that exist between different artistic disciplines, drawing from and
commenting on film, dance, photography, music, theatre, painting and
sculpture and uniting these to construct a powerfully visual narrative.
The Long Road to Mazatlán was commissioned by ArtPace, A
Foundation for Contemporary Art/San Antonio and Grand Arts, Kansas City with
the support of the London Arts Board, the Arts Council of England and the
British Council.
Above: Isaac Julien in collaboration with Javier
de Frutos, The Long Road to Mazatlán, 1999. 3 synchronized
DVDs projected through 3 LCD projectors with audio. 18 minutes.
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