This week we unveiled the official poster for the 24th Annual Hamptons International Film Festival, featuring a dynamic work by American artist John Alexander, based on his iconic work Ship of Fools.
JOHN ALEXANDER, Ship of Fools, 2006-7, oil on canvas
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of James F. Dicke Family
Every year, HIFF commissions a local artist to create artwork for our official festival poster, using the interplay between art and film to affect the conventions of the film poster form. As Alexander explained to Dan’s Papers, “I believe great cinema is thought provoking and complex in human interactions. There are good guys and bad guys that could be there in that boat—it’s multi-layered, and the same goes for movies. I also thought the painting itself has a large cinematic graphic scale to it.”
Born in 1945 in Beaumont, Texas, John Alexander remained in southeast Texas until entering graduate school at Southern Methodist University in Dallas in 1969. Upon completing an MFA in 1970, he moved to Houston, established a studio and became a member of the art faculty of the University of Houston. In the late 1970s Alexander left Texas for New York where he is to this day. The artist currently divides his time between New York City and Amagansett.
Alexander has exhibited extensively in the United States and around the world, most recently in Beijing. He has had a major retrospective at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. His work is included in the permanent collections of leading museums, as well as in many distinguished private collections worldwide.
Previous artists have included Cindy Sherman, Donald Sultan, Julian Schnabel, Barbara Kruger, Dan Rizzie, Jim Gingerich, Billy Sullivan, David Salle, Cecily Brown, Eric Fischl, Bruce Weber and April Gornik.
John Alexander’s signed posters will be available for sale during the Festival at all merchandise locations. The poster was designed by Laurie Fink.