First season begins today with a new film featuring Jacolby Satterwhite

(NEW YORK — February 5, 2020) — Art21 revealed today its full slate of film programming for 2020, headlined by a new season of the Peabody Award-winning series, Art in the Twenty-First Century. Eighteen total films will premiere throughout 2020 across each of Art21’s three principal series—Extended Play, New York Close Up, and Art in the Twenty-First Century—further fortifying Art21’s library as the most comprehensive documentary film collection on today’s greatest artists.

The lead-off season of 2020 programming begins today with a new film from Art21’s New York Close Up series featuring artist Jacolby Satterwhite. The season continues with releases featuring Hiwa K, Meriem Bennani, Krzysztof Wodiczko, and Bryan Zanisnik, with each film premiering biweekly on Wednesdays at 12:00 p.m. EST.

The first film of the new season, titled “The Incredulity of Jacolby Satterwhite,” is available to stream today on Art21.org, YouTube (youtube.com/art21org), and Vimeo (vimeo.com/art21).

Following this initial wave are two additional seasons of programming, arriving in the spring and fall, comprised of releases from Art21’s Extended Play and New York Close Up series. Artists featured throughout the remaining seasons include Michael Rakowitz, Wangechi Mutu, Firelei Baez, and Shaun Leonardo, among others. Fifteen total films will be released throughout all three seasons. The fall season represents Art21’s participation in the inaugural Feminist Art Coalition.

Also forthcoming in the fall is the tenth season of Art21’s flagship series, Art in the Twenty-First Century. The three episodes that comprise the new television season will be revealed at Art21’s “Play All Party,” taking place in New York City on May 5. Event details will be announced in February.

“We feel a sense of urgency now to tell artists’ stories,” said Tina Kukielski, executive director and chief curator of Art21. “In a world easily thrown out of balance, artists and their ideas guide us through today’s challenges if we look and listen close enough.”

Fifteen Film Premieres Across Extended Play and New York Close Up

Throughout the year, Art21 will release a total of fifteen new films from each of its two acclaimed series, Extended Play and New York Close Up. Films will be released in three groups across the winter, spring, and fall seasons.

The winter season begins today with a film from Art21’s New York Close Up series featuring Jacolby Satterwhite, followed by subsequent releases featuring Hiwa K, Meriem Bennani, Krzysztof Wodiczko, and Bryan Zanisnik.

Artists featured throughout the remaining seasons include Michael Rakowitz, Wangechi Mutu, Firelei Baez, and Shaun Leonardo, among others.

Films from each season will premiere biweekly on Wednesdays at 12:00 p.m. EST on Art21.org, YouTube (youtube.com/art21org), and Vimeo (vimeo.com/art21).

A Landmark Tenth Season of Art in the Twenty-First Century

Arriving this fall is the latest season of Art21’s flagship series, Art in the Twenty-First Century. For nearly two decades, the series has become a staple of visual arts programming on PBS, as well as in classrooms and art spaces worldwide.

The coming season, Art21’s tenth, will feature twelve profiles across three episodes. Details about the new season will be revealed at Art21’s “Play All Party,” taking place in New York City on May 5.

Winter 2020 Film Guide

Jacolby Satterwhite (February 5; New York Close Up)

Following the installation of the artist’s two largest solo exhibitions to date—at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn and The Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia—the film features Jacolby Satterwhite discussing how his practice has grown in scale and evolved to include music production, in addition to video, performance, sculpture, and installation. Explaining how artmaking has been a way to process the experience of surviving cancer as a child and his mother’s recent passing, Satterwhite deals with themes of regeneration, healing, and resurrection.

Hiwa K (February 19; Extended Play)

An intimate look at Hiwa K’s video and sculpture installation, The Bell Project, originally presented at the 2015 Venice Biennale and filmed while installed at MoMA PS1 in New York City in 2020. For The Bell Project, the artist worked with an Italian foundry to make a bronze bell out of U.S. and European military waste gathered in his native Iraq. Hiwa K discusses this simple but potent depiction of the circulation of materials and his desire to make artwork that is understandable to those who may feel intimidated by contemporary art.

Meriem Bennani (March 4; New York Close Up)

In her second feature with Art21, Meriem Bennani discusses the ways that her signature blend of sculpture and video have helped her to express herself where language has failed. The film includes an in-depth look at Bennani’s most recent exhibitions, including a solo show titled Party on the CAPS at Clearing Gallery, Bushwick and her MISSION TEENS installation at the 2019 Whitney Biennial. Both works deal with the French-speaking culture in Bennani’s home country of Morocco and the effects of colonization, immigration, and diaspora.

Krzysztof Wodiczko (March 18; Extended Play)

Produced over ten years since Art21 first filmed with the artist, this new film with Krzysztof Wodiczko gives an in-depth look at the artist’s 2020 site-specific commission at Madison Square Park. Titled Monument, the work projects video likenesses and spoken narratives of resettled refugees onto the Park’s 1881 monument to Admiral David Glasgow Farragut.

Bryan Zanisnik (April 1; New York Close Up)

Recently returned to New York after living in Sweden for several years, Bryan Zanisnik discusses how he uses humor in his work, the realities of navigating the art world in New York versus Sweden, and how he’s learning to balance the art world’s expectations with his own explorations of content, materiality, and meaning in his work.

Always on View

The Art21 film collection features over 60 hours of video content, all available to view around the clock and free of charge at Art21.org and Art21.live.

In addition to full episodes from each of the nine seasons produced to date of the Peabody Award-winning PBS-broadcast series, Art in the Twenty-First Century, the Art21 film collection is rounded out by over 300 films across two digital series, Extended Play and New York Close Up—demonstrating Art21’s ongoing commitment to digital-first video programming, and underscoring the nonprofit organization’s position as the leading producer of films documenting the creative processes of today’s artists.

About Art21

Since 1997, Art21 has been recognized as a celebrated global leader in presenting thought-provoking and sophisticated content about contemporary art. It is the go-to place to learn firsthand about some of the most interesting working artists today—from the artists themselves—and is responsible for introducing millions of people to contemporary art and artists. Founded on the belief that artists are role models for creative and critical thinking, Art21’s mission aims to inspire a more creative and tolerant world through the works and words of contemporary artists.

Art21.org provides an unparalleled year-round, always-on look at working artists, a continuous digital presence for an organization that is widely recognized for a biennial television series. The Art21 film library houses over 60 hours of original video content—over 500 videos all open and free to the public. Reaching audiences of over 5 million a month, Art21’s digital initiatives continue the organization’s long-standing tradition of using the power of digital media to inspire audiences worldwide by exposing them to contemporary artists.

Through its education program, Art21 engages audiences in dialogue about the contemporary art and artists featured in Art21 films. Art21’s educational initiatives include the Art21 Educators learning community, the production of interpretive resources, professional development workshops and lectures, and participatory programs and screening events.

To date, Art21’s digital films have had over 50 film festival acceptances across the world and have been nominated for a Webby Award and won a Cine Golden Eagle.

Art21 programs are made possible through the generosity of The Anna Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation; Agnes Gund; PBS; the Lambent Foundation Fund of the Tides Foundation; the National Endowment for the Arts; The Andreas Foundation; The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation; and the Ford Foundation.

New York Close Up is supported by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Arts; and, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and by individual contributors.

Extended Play is supported by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Arts; and, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; the Art21 Contemporary Council; and by individual contributors.

For a full list of Art21 supporters, please visit Art21.org.

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Press Contact

Jonathan Munar
Director of Digital, Art21
press [AT] art21 [DOT] org