Ruby City Announces Solo Show of Isaac Julien’s Film Looking For Langston

In conjunction with the artwork’s 30th anniversary, the exhibition will feature both film and large-scale photography.

March 1 – August 11, 2019

Public Opening Reception: February 28, 2019, 6:30-8:30pm

Location: Studio, 111 Camp St. San Antonio, TX 78204

San Antonio, TX (December 17, 2018) – Ruby City is pleased to announce an exhibition of works by renowned filmmaker and installation artist, Isaac Julien, CBE RA opening at Studio on February 28, 2019. The show will be on view through August 11, 2019. Central to the exhibition is Julien’s seminal 1989 documentary-drama Looking for Langston, a film which expanded his international acclaim. Looking for Langston, one of Julien’s most recognized early works, is a meditation on the life of poet, novelist and playwright Langston Hughes alongside several of his contemporaries who were also integral members of the Harlem Renaissance. When it debuted, it was lauded for its exploration of desire and the reciprocity of the gaze, and marked a founding film of what critic B.Ruby Rich named The New Queer Cinema.

The film is regarded as a fundamental resource for African-American Studies and has been a key part of curricula in North American universities, colleges and art schools. 2019 marks it’s 30^th anniversary.

Also on display are two recently acquired photographic works from the Looking for Langston series, Film-Noir Angels and Masquerade No. 3, which illuminate the multilayered narratives present throughout Julien’s oeuvre.

Julien’s film, video installation and photographic works combine a number of artistic genres to create a unique visual language. Much of Julien’s work explores issues of Black and queer identities. Addressing themes such as institutionalized racism, transcultural identity and experiences of cultural displacement, Julien’s work explores many of the social and economic issues facing contemporary global society.

During her lifetime, Linda Pace was a dedicated supporter of Julien’s practice, acquiring over fifty works for her permanent collection. Today, the Linda Pace Foundation preserves the largest collection of Julien’s work.

About the artist

Filmmaker and installation artist, Isaac Julien CBE RA, was born in 1960 in London, where he currently lives and works. Julien is also taking up a Professorial position in the Arts Division at the University of California Santa Cruz. His multi-screen film installations and photographs incorporate different artistic disciplines to create a poetic and unique visual language. Looking for Langston garnered Julien a cult following while his 1991 debut feature Young Soul Rebels won the Semaine de la Critique prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Nominated for the Turner Prize in 2001, Julien was the recipient of the James Robert Brudner ‘83 Memorial Prize and Lecture at Yale University (2016). Most recently he received the Charles Wollaston Award (2017), for most distinguished work at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and in 2018 he was made a Royal Academician (RA). He was awarded the title Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, 2017.

Julien’s solo exhibitions and presentations include Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA), Cape Town (2017); Platform-L Contemporary Art Centre, Seoul (2017); The Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto (2017); Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris (2016); MAC Niterói, Rio de Janeiro (2016); Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC), Mexico City (2016); De Pont Museum, Netherlands (2015); Museum of Modern Art, New York (2013); Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago (2013); The Bass Museum, Miami (2010); Museum Brandhorst, Munich (2009); Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (2005); Centre Pompidou, Paris (2005) and Moderna Museet, Stockholm (2005). His latest work, Stones Against Diamonds, was shown in 2015 as part of the Rolls-Royce Art Programme at the Venice Biennale, at Art Basel and Art Basel Miami Beach.