Visionary Artist af Klint Subject Of Documentary

On March 18, in celebration of Women’s History Month, the Parrish and Hamptons Doc Fest will present a screening of “Beyond the Visible: Hilma af Klint,” a documentary directed by Halina Dryschka, on the life and craft of af Klint (Sweden, 1862-1944) — the visionary female artist who worked in abstraction in the early 1900s, before the term existed.

An all-but-forgotten figure in art historical discourse, af Klint was recently rediscovered and celebrated in a groundbreaking retrospective of her work at the Guggenheim Museum in 2018. The screening, a part of the museum’s Artist’s Lens series, will be followed by a conversation with artists Dannielle Tegeder and Sharmistha Ray who co-founded Hilma’s Ghost — a feminist artist collective that address art-historical gaps by cultivating a global network of women, nonbinary, and trans practitioners whose work references spirituality.

Between 1906 and 1915, af Klint created colorful, sensual paintings of uncommonly large-scale, inspired by spiritualism, science and nature. This first major group of predominantly non-objective work was inspired in part by af Klint’s practice as a medium and reflect an effort to articulate mystical views of reality. Convinced that the world was not yet ready for her forward-thinking work, she rarely exhibited and stipulated that it not be shown for 20 years following her death. As a result of this, and the zeitgeist of society and the art world in the early 20th century, af Klint’s paintings and works on paper went largely unseen until her rediscovery in 1986. More recently, her work gained relevance as a result of the renewed interest in spiritualism during the pandemic.

“Beyond the Visible” (2019, 93 minutes) — the first and only documentary on af Klint and Dyrschka’s first full length film — delves into af Klint’s creative process as well as the extenuating circumstances that led her being mischaracterized and erased in the art world. Interviews with the artist’s family, friends, artists, historians and collectors share the untold stories of a heroine whose pursuit of art and questions of life transcend the visible.

Hilma af Klint graduated with honors from Stockholm’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts in 1887, and soon established herself as a respected artist with deftly rendered figurative paintings. At the same time she became deeply involved in spiritualism and Theosophy — modes of spiritual engagement that were widely popular across Europe and the United States among those who sought to reconcile long-held religious beliefs with scientific advances. Incorporating both biomorphic and geometric forms, exploration of scale, and bold approaches to composition and color, af Klint continued to push the bounds of her new abstract vocabulary, as she experimented with form, theme, and seriality, creating some of her most incisive work.

Director Halina Dyrschka was born in Berlin, Germany and is active as a director and producer. After studying acting, classical singing, and film production she founded the company Ambrosia Film in Berlin. “Beyond the Visible: Hilma af Klint marks her directorial feature documentary debut and is the first and only film on the Swedish artist Hilma af Klint.

All attendees at the screening are required to wear medical-grade masks at all times and show proof of vaccination; those 18 and older must provide a valid ID. To expedite check-in, guests are encouraged to send their proof in advance by emailing it to healthfirst@parrishart.org. Please put the event title in your subject line. The Parrish Art Museum is at 279 Montauk Highway, Water Mill. Visit parrishart.org for details.