The historic Newtown Theatre will screen “Alan Magee: art is not a solace,” at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 13.
The one-hour documentary explores the recurring subjects, locales and historical sources which have sustained artist and Newtown native Alan Magee’s creative passion for five decades.
A Q&A and meet-and-greet with Magee and his wife, Monika, and film co-director David Berez will follow the screening. Tickets will be sold at the door starting at 6 p.m. for $12, or $6 for theater members.
“Magee’s arresting images—which comment on corporate greed, cruelty, gun violence, and civilian and military victims of war—at first seem at odds with his exquisite and serene paintings of nature and found objects.” The film examines the ways in which art can address some of the greatest challenges that society faces, including social injustice and violence, the increasing threats to democracy, and the urgency of speaking truth to power.
The James A. Michener Art Museum has presented two retrospective exhibitions of Magee’s work and owns a selection of his paintings.
Now a resident of Maine, Magee grew up half a block from the Newtown Theatre. Some of his earliest memories involve drawing at a little table his mother set up for him in the family home at 103 N. State St., Newtown.
“My mother was my earliest influence…she would put piles of paper in front of me along with colored pencils and crayons,” Magee said. “In the documentary, I talk about her exceptional drawing ability and the absence of support from her own parents.”
Magee also cites his Council Rock High School art teacher, Isabel Westberg, as a mentor who “inspired and guided the kids with artistic inclinations.”
“She was a remarkable teacher who came along at the right time for me,” he said. “I think she understood better than anyone else in my world that I needed to go to art school. Toward the end of high school, she drove me to the Tyler School of Art so I could show my drawing portfolio and apply to the school.”
The Newtown Theatre is located at 120 N. State St. in Newtown Borough. Visit TheNewtownTheatre.com.
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