The Museum of Contemporary Arts (MOCA London) is to showcase Manga Dreams, a new short film by Anderson & Low, at selected Picturehouse Cinemas in the UK and Scotland, following on from the recent successful exhibition at Hamiltons Gallery, London and the launch of the book of this project.
In the first of an ongoing series of stylish and exciting guerrilla art pieces at Picturehouse Cinemas, this film created by Anderson & Low from their latest series of prints, explores the Asian cultural phenomenon of Manga and its ubiquitous influence on youth culture and fashion; using portraiture to illustrate how this has impacted visually upon society. This is the first part of an original and enlightened strategy by Picturehouse Cinemas which has a particular focus on creative projects.
Focusing on the dynamic between subject and photographer Manga Dreams explores the concepts of identity, culture and costume and creates a visual hybrid of photography, graphics, digital painting and calligraphy with numerous layers of interpretations. Subjects tailor their look to that of Manga, including extremely styled hair and elaborate costume, which emphasises the cartoon like nature of this genre and raises questions over which elements are real and which have been constructed.
The result is a beautiful collection of images that ultimately connect street youth culture with contemporary art and pushes the boundaries of contemporary tableau and portraiture. This work blurs the lines between reality and the make-believe world of Manga and anime to explore cultural identity today.
The Manga Dreams short film will be shown before the new Japanese film, NORWEGIAN WOOD, based on Haruki Murakami’s best-seller at the following Picturehouses across the country.
The film will play in London for two weeks. Play dates and length of run will vary from cinema to cinema, please check www.picturehouses.co.uk for further information.
