FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, August 22, 2024

New York, New York – Art21 is proud to announce the release of a new film: “Ilana Harris-Babou’s Guide to Health & Happiness” premiering Wednesday, September 4th at 12:00 p.m. ET on Art21.org and YouTube. The fifth 2024 release of Art21’s digital film series, “New York Close Up,” “Ilana Harris-Babou’s Guide to Health & Happiness” explores the video and sculptural work of the Brooklyn-based artist. Watch the trailer.

Set at the artist’s studio and childhood home, this short documentary film follows artist Ilana Harris-Babou as she explores what can happen when the tasteful aesthetics of aspirational media come into contact with the absurd, grotesque, and uncomfortable.

“I do like to operate in this space where the videos, at first, look like something you’re really familiar with, and then I start to insert these uncomfortable truths into a familiar form,” says Ilana Harris-Babou in the film. “I think it’s also a friction I’m living with constantly, right? Between the sort of space of fantasy we want to live in and then the truth that we kind of know about the instability of everything.”

“With an artist like Ilana, whose practice is so multi-faceted, we were spoiled for choices in the many directions this film could go,” says Andrea Chung, director and Art21 Associate Producer. “Perhaps it’s my own bias as a filmmaker, but I was particularly drawn to Ilana’s video works and how she edits them in the form of aspirational media, the very cultural phenomenon that she effectively parodies and critiques.”

Tune in to the premiere of “Ilana Harris-Babou’s Guide to Health & Happiness” on Wednesday, September 4, 2024, at 12:00 p.m. ET at Art21.org and on Art21’s YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/art21org. To learn more, email Art21 Associate Director of Communications, Hannah DeGarmo, at [email protected].

About New York Close Up

New York Close Up (NYCU) is devoted to capturing early career artists living and working in New York City. NYCU films have been accepted and honored by over 100 film festivals, including the BlackStar and DOC NYC film festivals, as well as the Academy Awards-qualifying, Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. NYCU films have also been honored with 2 Webby Award nominations and 8 Vimeo Staff Picks. Most recently, NYCU films have been accepted at the 2022 Frameline, Fullframe Documentary Film Festival, Miami Film Festival, and Rooftop Films.

New York Close Up is made possible with support from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Every Page Foundation, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, the Henry Nias Foundation, and individual contributors.

About Art21

Art21 is the world’s leading source to learn directly from the artists of our time. A nonprofit organization, the mission of Art21 is to educate and expand access to contemporary art, producing documentary films, resources, and public programs. Learn more at Art21.org.

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Press Contact

Hannah DeGarmo
Associate Director of Communications, Art21
[email protected]