Contrathemis

Dwinell Grant, Contrathemis, 1941, 16mm film, color, silent; 08:00 minutes, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Patricia and Phillip Frost, 1986.92.36, © 1941, Jean O’Hart Grant

Artwork Details

Title
Contrathemis
Date
1941
Location
Not on view
Copyright
© 1941, Jean O’Hart Grant
Credit Line
Gift of Patricia and Phillip Frost
Mediums
Mediums Description
16mm film, color, silent; 08:00 minutes
Classifications
Subjects
  • Abstract — geometric
Object Number
1986.92.36

Artwork Description

Dwinell Grant’s pioneering film Contrathemis is a stop-motion animation made from more than 4,000 colored-pencil drawings and paper collages that were individually photographed and sequenced on 16mm film. Geometric shapes swim across pulsating hues of rich color in a stylistic progression Grant labeled “organized field.” A dynamic lighting sequence was constructed using automobile headlights covered with colored gels to backlight each frame. Eager to break free from the margins of the page, Grant drove static compositions into motion, celebrating the infinite potential of shape, color, and time.


Watch This!: Revelations in Media Art, 2015

Works by this artist (1 item)

Theaster Gates, Ground rules. Free throw, 2015, wooden flooring, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2017.40, © 2015, Theaster Gates
Ground rules. Free throw
Date2015
wooden flooring
On view

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Franco Mondini-Ruiz, Crystal City, 2009, mixed media installation, including glass, crystal, silver, plastic, and ceramic objects, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Henry R. Muñoz III in honor of Debra Guerrero, 2013.48.1, © 2009, Franco Mondini-Ruiz
Crystal City
Date2009
mixed media installation, including glass, crystal, silver, plastic, and ceramic objects
Not on view
David Esterly, Thomas Jefferson's Letter Rack, 2017, limewood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift from the collection of Candace and Michael Humphreys, 2023.55
Thomas Jefferson’s Letter Rack
Date2017
limewood
Not on view