On Saturday, Aug. 24, the Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington will host the inaugural event of for the “SEA of Visibility” movement. The mission of the “SEA of Visibility” movement (Support Expression through the Arts) is dispel the stigma surrounding mental health diagnoses, and to turn that stigma into support by advocating for introspection, compassion and visibility through the creation and sharing of visual and performing art.
During this event the Cinema will present the documentary film, “Kusama: Infinity,” detailing the life of artist Yayoi Kusama. The screening will be followed by a discussion with a range of mental health experts and art teachers. An inspiring art installation, music, and comic entertainment will also be featured at the event.
The film will be followed by an art teacher-led “happening” by Anu Annam, Margaret Minardi and Caitlyn Shea and presentation by a Kusama expert in the Cinema Arts Centre’s Sky Room. There will be an ephemeral creation of a “Balancing Room”, inspired by Yayoi Kusama’s “Obliterion Room” and other dot installations. Participants will balance a dot composition spatially, visually through color theory, and emotionally through the Cognitive Behavior Therapy tenets of Dr. Aaron T. Beck.
Comedy by the talented Mo Diggs and musical performance by Jane Olivia Remauro will be included in this creative afternoon. An art exhibit by “SEA of Visibility” visual artists will be on display, as well as work from Muñeca Arthouse artists.
The event costs $17 for the public to attend, or $12 for Cinema Arts Centre members and begins at noon on Saturday, Aug. 24.
To learn more about the Cinema Arts Centre visit website www.cinemaartscentre.org, or the centre’s Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
Film Screening: “Kusama: Infinity” – For decades, the work of Yayoi Kusama pushed boundaries that often alienated her from both her peers and those in power in the art world. Kusama was an underdog with everything stacked against her: the trauma of growing up in Japan during World War II, life in a dysfunctional family that discouraged her creative ambitions, sexism and racism in the art establishment, mental illness in a culture where that was particularly shameful – and even continuing to pursue and be devoted to her art as she approaches her 90s. In spite of it all, Kusama has endured and has created a legacy of artwork that spans the disciplines of painting, sculpture, installation art, performance art, poetry and literary fiction. After working as an artist for over six decades, people around the globe are experiencing her installation Infinity Mirrored Rooms in record numbers, as Kusama continues to create new work every day. (USA, 2018, 76 Mins, NR, English & Japanese | Dir. Heather Lenz)
