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 (10 items)

Carrie Mae Weems, Lincoln, Lonnie, and Me - A Story in 5 Parts, 2012, video installation and mixed media, color, sound; 18:29 minutes, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the American Women's History Initiative Acquisitions Pool, administered by the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative, 2023.9A-G, © Carrie Mae Weems. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.
Lincoln, Lonnie, and Me — A Story in 5 Parts
Date2012
video installation and mixed media, color, sound; 18:29 minutes
Not on view
Carrie Mae Weems, Suspended Belief, from the series Constructing History, 2008, archival pigment print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2022.48.5, © Carrie Mae Weems. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.
Suspended Belief, from the series Constructing History
Date2008
archival pigment print
Not on view
Carrie Mae Weems, A Woman Observes, from the series Constructing History, 2008, archival pigment print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2022.48.1, © Carrie Mae Weems. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.
A Woman Observes, from the series Constructing History
Date2008
archival pigment print
Not on view

More Artworks from the Collection

Salvatore Mancini, Narragansett Electric, 2000, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Joseph A. Chazan, M.D., 2002.80.8
Narragansett Electric
Date2000
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Salvatore Mancini, Remains of Lock, Millville, 2000, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Joseph A. Chazan, M.D., 2002.80.6
Remains of Lock, Millville
Date2000
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Keisha Scarville, Chair, 2001, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Perkins Center for the Arts, 2002.17, © 2001, Keisha Scarville
Chair
Date2001
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Salvatore Mancini, Eel Fisherman, 2000, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Joseph A. Chazan, M.D., 2002.80.2
Eel Fisherman
Date2000
gelatin silver print
Not on view