Llyn Foulkes has been called the Zelig of contemporary art. Over the past five decades he has been consistently inconsistent, confounding critics and galleries with dramatic changes of direction whenever it seemed he was about to be overtaken by popular acclaim. He's also been consistently ahead of the curve. He showed a year before Andy Warhol at the legendary Ferus Gallery in the mid-60′s and was heralded as an early master of Pop with his famous 'Cow' (a nicely rendered creature in blank space), anticipating Warhol's bovine prints by three years. Among the artists with whom he emerged were John Baldessari, Wallace Berman, Robert Irwin and Ed Ruscha. Although he would probably scoff at the label, many admirers regard his musical performances as performance art.
His eclectic oeuvre includes intriguing meditations on the nature of photographic images, a light romance with nostalgic Americana, savage portraits reminiscent of Francis Bacon and scathing commentaries on the insidious nature of commercial pop culture — particularly the products of Disney (dead Mickey's are strewn through recent works). And although he has zigged and zagged through the decades, an echo of Dada and a Duchampian playfulness inform much of his work (though certainly not in a manner that reveals any dreaded consistency).
The Enigma of Llyn Foulkes
"The only way to finish it is when they take it away from me"
Tamar Halpern
Co-Director, Co-Producer
This is Tamar Halpern's first feature-length documentary film. She wrote and directed Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, based on the book by New York Times best-selling author Wendy Mass, starring Mira Sorvino, Michael Urie and Joe Pantoliano, with music by Edie Brickell. Halpern adapted the Wendy Mass book A Mango Shaped Space, about a thirteen year-old girl with synesthesia, a neurological condition where sounds have color and texture. Her previous writing and directing work includes Shelf Life, "a whip smart film that taps into a fresh source for American comedy" (Variety), starring Betsy Brandt of Breaking Bad, and the feature Your Name Here co-starring Llyn Foulkes. Halpern has an MFA in film production from USC. To see other work by director Tamar Halpern, please visit www.tamarolandpictures.com.
Chris Quilty
Co-Director, Co-Producer
This is Chris Quilty's first feature-length documentary film. Originally from Ohio, he got his degree in international relations from Ohio State University and then, naturally, moved to California to join the film business. He has worked as a boom operator and a production sound mixer on numerous film and television projects, including Arrested Development, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, and Revenge.
Halpern and Quilty also co-directed the twenty-minute documentary The Lost Frontier, following the Llyn Foulkes painting throughout the United States. The painting is owned by institutions here and abroad including the Art Institute of Chicago, Art Center, and many UC schools as well as museums in South Korea, Australia, Germany and the United States. Llyn Foulkes One Man Band
Filmmaker Tamar Halpern is interviewed by Sundance winner and documentary director Ondi Timoner on Bring Your Own Doc.
Watch the full interview here.