Shadowman (2017 film)
Shadowman is a 2017 documentary film on the life and art of Canadian painter Richard Hambleton; notorious for his "Shadowman" paintings. Directed by Oren Jacoby, the film premiered at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival where it was the audience award runner-up.[1][2]
| Shadowman | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Oren Jacoby |
| Produced by | Christopher Clements Julie Goldman Carolyn Hepburn Oren Jacoby |
| Starring | Richard Hambleton |
| Music by | Joel Goodman |
| Cinematography | Tom Hurwitz Oren Jacoby Robert Richman |
| Edited by | Abhay Sofsky |
Release date |
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Running time | 81 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Synopsis
Hambleton, a Canadian born painter first came to New York City in the early 1980s and gained his initial round of renown for his chalk outline paintings created as if at the scenes of homicides to which he sometimes added a splash of red paint to indicate blood spilled. In his next series he gained even more notoriety for his "Shadowman" paintings of black as night figures in unexpected places seemingly coming right at you from locations everywhere; all once upon a time in downtown Manhattan (especially in the East Village neighborhood where he was a charter member of its famed art gallery scene).
Next, Hambleton fell into a spiral of addiction and changed his course of art style veering into almost academic landscapes though at times pastorals which seemed to some as if to have been influenced by rush sensation of oncoming heroin. Later his career took an upswing when he was discovered by two promoters/art dealers who brought in the international fashion legend Giorgio Armani. However again he stumbled until being patronized by a French billionaire, Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld, who put him up at the Trump Soho hotel in exchange for one painting a month, though he was eventually tossed for destroying his room. He then moves into a less pricey hotel in Manhattan's Chinatown. The film leaves wondering whether Hambleton who is seen suffering from skin cancer will once again survive.
Reaction
Glenn Kenny in reviewing the film for the New York Times said of Jacoby's film: "his intense documentary shows a driven creator walking the walk, so to speak, in the most perverse fashion possible. The story is both repellent and strangely inspiring".[3] Fionnuala Halligan, the chief film critic for Screendaily in reviewing the picture in the periodical started "he myth of the tortured artist collides with the art documentary in Shadowman, a wholly engaging and often gripping look at the chaotic career of troubled 1980s graffiti artist Richard Hambleton".[4]
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 93% based on reviews from 15 critics.[5]
Persons appearing in the film
- Penny Arcade - New York City writer and performer
- Michael Carter - New York City writer and poet
- Robin Cembalest - Art writer and editor
- Paul DeRienzo - Radio news personality WBAI
- Richard Hambleton - the artist and subject of the film
- Keegan Hamilton - Journalist (Vice)
- Anne Hanavan - writer, filmaket. and performer
- Robert Hawkins - Artist
- Richard Hell - writer
- Phoebe Hoban - journalist and author
- Nimo Librizzi - graffiti artist
- Rick Librizzi - artist
- Carlo McCormick - New York City writer and art critic
- Robert Murphy - art collector[6]
- Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld - French businessman and art collector
- Andy Valmorbida - art dealer and promoter
- John Woodward - art dealer
- Kristine Woodward - art dealer[7]
References
- "Shadowman - Tribeca Film Festival". Tribeca.
- "Banksy Precursor Richard Hambleton Dies at 65, Days Before MoMA Show and Shadowman Film".
- Kenny, Glenn (30 November 2017). "Review: 'Shadowman' Traces the Rise and Fall of an '80s Artist" – via NYTimes.com.
- Halligan, Fionnuala (2017-04-21). "'Shadowman': Tribeca Review". Screen.
- "Shadowman (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes.
- https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-tumultuous-tragic-life-street-art-pioneer-richard-hambleton/amp
- carlosdev (1 December 2017). "Shadowman".