The Sundance Film Festival opens today in Park City and that means that for the duration of the 10 day festival many of Park City’s visual arts venues will be hijacked by the glitterati (and those courting the glitterati). Julie Nester Gallery, located off well-trod Main Street, maintains its sovereignty as a gallery this month, but that doesn’t mean they are oblivious to the star-studded activities going on around them.

Beginning today and continuing throught the festival the gallery will feature Obejcts of Life, a multimedia installation of objects, photographs and vides inspired by Steven Sebring’s filming of artist, singer and songwriter Patti Smith. This exhibition coincides with Sebrings world premiere of Dream of Life, a “hypnotice plunge into the philosophy and artistry of cult rocker Patti Smith.”

During the course of filming Dream of Life, Sebring became fascinated by the history and mythology behind the possessions and personal treasures that Patti Smith shares with us during the film’s most intimate moments. It resulted in “the desire to return to his roots as a photographer and to recontextualize through his camera lens, the sacred, and the common place; the effect is both anthropologic and sentimental, collapsing cultural differences in iconographic similarity, while revealing the object’s character and lasting beauty.”

Objects of Life consists of 14 large scale photographs taken by Sebring. This collection ranges from Patti Smith’s childhood dress, to an ancient urn containing the remains of Robert Mapplethorpe, to black leather boots that have stomped around the world. Included is a video installation of Patti Smith in the course of creating an art piece, as well as a rare unseen oil painting by Patti Smith, which is her largest work to date.  The exhibit also features a private collection of personal belongings from both artists whose collaboration is grounded by their relationship to the film and to their individual experiences.

Julie Nester Gallery
Sundance Film Festival
Steven Sebring
Patti Smith

15 Bytes

UTAH’S ART MAGAZINE SINCE 2001, 15 Bytes is published by Artists of Utah, a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.