Mon, Dec 4 at 7:00 PM - Sat, Dec 9 at 9:00 PM PST
The Clinton Street Theater
2522 Southeast Clinton Street
Portland, OR 97202
Maestros of the avant-garde and born in the same Bronx hospital as fellow queer hunk Tab Hunter, twin brothers George & Mike Kuchar created entire worlds in Super 8 and 16mm. Exploring themes of sexuality, identity, and everyday life; they had a distinct style that combined elements of kitsch and surrealism while casting friends and fellow misanthropes as actors.
Their films are often characterized by low budgets, camp aesthetics, and a unique blend of Sirkian melodrama and bizarre comedy. Their work is considered a significant part of the history of underground and experimental cinema, serving as an inspiration to the likes of John Waters, Todd Solondz, Greg Araki, and David Lynch.
Friday, September 22, 2023
7:30pm PT
Special guest: Post-screening conversation with filmmaker Mike Kuchar.
“George and Mike Kuchar’s films were my first inspiration… these were the pivotal films of my youth, bigger influences than Warhol, Kenneth Anger, even The Wizard of Oz. Here were directors I could idolize—complete crackpots without an ounce of pretension, outsiders to even ‘underground’ sensibilities who made exactly the films they wanted to make without any money, starring their friends.” – John Waters
François Ghebaly is honored to present Big, Bad Boys, the gallery’s third solo exhibition with legendary artist and filmmaker Mike Kuchar. Big, Bad Boys marks the gallery’s second exhibition at our new West Hollywood space located at 1109 N Poinsettia Place, West Hollywood.
Mike Kuchar has been a majorly influential figure in the underground film and comics scenes since the 1960s, first in his hometown of the Bronx and, from the 1970s on, in the creative hotbed of San Francisco. Together with his twin brother George, the Kuchars gained cult recognition for their over-the-top, no-budget films that sent up Hollywood epics, weepy romances, and sci-fi B movies. In iconic films like Sins of the Fleshapoids (1965), The Craven Sluck (1967), and Death Quest of the Ju-Ju Cults(1976), Mike developed his distinctive style that jettisoned traditional narrative structure and acting professionalism in favor of extravagant, tender sagas that would have a significant impact on emerging theorizations and expressions of camp as an artistic sensibility.