Shirley Clarke
- Known for
- Directing
- Born
- October 2, 1919
- Died
- September 23, 1997 (aged 77)
- Birthplace
- New York City, New York, USA
Biography
A major figure of the American avant garde, Shirley Brimberg Clarke (1919-1997) was born into privilege as the daughter of Polish-Jewish immigrants who made their fortune in manufacturing. Rebelling against a repressive bourgeois upbringing, Clarke turned first to dance, and later film and video, to express her distinctive vision of the world. Moving freely across genres and media throughout her career (and often within a single work), Clarke’s cinema explores the porous boundaries between narrative and documentary filmmaking, and film and other media, such as painting, dance, performance and video. Her 1960s features The Connection (1961), The Cool World (1963) and Portrait of Jason (1967), for which she is arguably best remembered, address issues of urban alienation, poverty, addiction and racism, focusing on lives lived at the margins of American society. Fearless in both her personal and creative life, Clarke produced a body of work that is as formally innovative as it is rooted in social protest. Clarke initially trained as a dancer, immersing herself in New York’s vibrant post-war avant-garde dance scene. Although her dance career never quite earned her the critical acclaim she’d hoped for, it had a lasting impact on her subsequent filmmaking and video work, informing an interest in how movement is recorded formally, while introducing her to key avant-garde dancers and choreographers. Source: https://denniscooperblog.com/shirley-clarke-day-2/
Known For
Photos
Filmography
The Tee Pee Video Space Troupe: The First Years
Movie · Director
A Short Lecture and Demonstration on the Evolution of Ragtime as Presented by Jelly Roll Morton
Movie · Director
Fear Flight
Movie · Director
Decroux Film
Movie · Director
Home Movies #20: Dance Tests
Movie · Director
This Is Not 'In Paris Parks'
Movie · Director
Rose and the Players – Part 1
Movie · Director
Outtakes for 'In Paris Parks'
Movie · Director
Rose and the Players – Part 2
Movie · Director
Bullfight: The C and D Rolls
Movie · Director
Ornette: Made in America
Movie · Director
Ornette Coleman: A Jazz Video Game
Movie · Director
Tongues
Movie · Director
Savage/Love
Movie · Director
A Visual Diary
Movie · Director
Four Journeys Into Mystic Time: Trans
Movie · Director
Four Journeys Into Mystic Time: One Two Three
Movie · Director
Four Journeys Into Mystic Time: Initiation
Movie · Director
Four Journeys Into Mystic Time: Mysterium
Movie · Director
24 Frames per Second
Movie · Director
Carl Lee on Joe Franklin Show
Movie · Director
Morris at Ornette's Art Show
Movie · Director
Ricky Leacock Visit, April 15, 1971
Movie · Director
Yoko and John Party
Movie · Director
The Arrest
Movie · Director
Ricky Leacock Visit, evening, April 19, 1971
Movie · Director
Ricky Leacock Visit, daytime, April 19, 1971
Movie · Director
Ricky Leacock Visit, April 17, 1971
Movie · Director
Makeup Magic
Movie · Director
Carl Lee, Max and Friends at the Hotel Chelsea
Movie · Director
Portrait of Jason
Movie · Director
Butterfly
Movie · Director
For Life, Against the War
Movie · Director
The Cool World
Movie · Director
Robert Frost: A Lover's Quarrel with the World
Movie · Director
The Connection
Movie · Director
A Scary Time
Movie · Director
Skyscraper
Movie · Director
Bridges-Go-Round 1
Movie · Director
Bridges-Go-Round 2
Movie · Director
Brussels Loops
Movie · Director
A Moment in Love
Movie · Director
Bullfight
Movie · Director
In Paris Parks
Movie · Director
Dance in the Sun
Movie · Director
Home Movies #15 Shirley with Camera
Movie · Director