Jonas Mekas
Born 1922 in Semeniškiai, Lithuania
Died 2019 in Brooklyn, New York
Education
Philosophy, University of Mainz, DE
Selected Exhibitions
2023
Jonas Mekas: A small table with a bottle of wine, garlic, sausage, bread, Microscope Gallery, New York, NY, US
Cinema is young!, Cineteca Milano MIC, Milan, IT
Jonas Mekas, Open Archives, Monira Foundation, Chicago, USA
Jonas Mekas: Under the Shadow of the Tree, Padiglione de l’Esprit Nouveau, Bologna, IT
2022
Images are Real, Mattatoio – Pavilion 9b, Palazzo delle Esposizioni – Macro, Roma, IT (Nov 2022 – Feb 2023)
As Far As I Can See, the SIC! BWA Wrocław Gallery, PL
Earth. A retrospective, BombasGens Centre d’Art, Valencia, ES
Jonas Mekas: The Camera Was Always Running, Jewish Museum, New York, USA
Jonas Mekas… up close and far away…”, Jonas Mekas Visual Arts Center, Vilnius, LT
Moments to Remember (group ex.), Deborah Colton Gallery, Houston, TX, USA
2021
Kaunas Biennal: “Once Upon Another Time… gyveno jie jau kitaip”, LT
Jonas Mekas and the New York Avant-Garde, National Gallery of Art, Vilnius, LT
2020
Ahead, ahead we move through the stormy seas with all sails open, APALAZZOGALLERY, Brescia, IT
2018
Retrospective, Palazzo della Ragione, Bergamo, IT
2017
Again, again it all comes back to me in brief glimpses, MMCA, Seoul, KR
Documenta 14, Kassel, DE
Blue, Yellow, Red, Purple, Missoni Boutique, New York, NY, USA
Fears and Tremblings of an Angry Dog, Microscope Gallery, New York, NY, USA (performance)
Cinéma Lituanien, Cinématheque Française, Paris, FR (screening)
Jonas Mekas: Film in the Line of Fire, Fundação Serralves, Porto, PT
I Sing I Celebrate, MUSEO C.A.V LA NEOMUDEJAR, Madrid, ES
Screening of Diaries, Notes & Sketches a.k.a. Walden, Tate Gallery, London, UK Documenta 14, Athens, GR, and Kassel, CH
2016
Let Me Introduce Myself, Nina Johnson Gallery, Miami, FL, USA
The Velvet Underground – New York Extravaganza, Philarminie de Paris, Paris, FR
Take Me (I’m Yours), The Jewish Museum, New York, NY, USA
2015
All These Images, These Sounds, APALAZZOGALLERY, Brescia, IT
The Internet Saga, Palazzo Foscari Contarini, collateral event in conjunction with the 56th Venice Biennale, Venice, IT
TIME – Jonas Mekas, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, DE (screening)
2014
Jonas Mekas: One Man Show, Cēsis Arts Festival, LV
365 Day Project, ZKM, Karlsruhe, DE
2013
DOX Centre for Contemporary Art, Prague, CZ
I Lift My Glass of Wine to You, My Vienna Friends!, Krinzinger Projekte, Vienna, AT
Jonas Mekas. A Retrospective, CCBB, Sao Paulo, BR
Paris Photo L.A., Deborah Colton Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Outlaw: New Works, Microscope Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, USA
agnès b. Marseille, FR
The Sixties Quartet, KIASMA, Helsinki, FI
Let Me Introduce Myself, My Russian Friends! State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, RU
Jonas Mekas: In Praise of the Ordinary, The Phi Centre, Montreal, CA
Jonas Mekas / The Fluxus Wall, Bozar Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels, BE
Life Goes On… I Keep Singing, Deborah Colton Gallery, Houston, TX, USA
2012
Portraits: Jonas Mekas and Robert Polidori, Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Musique Plastique, agnès b. Howard Street boutique, New York, NY, USA
The 365 Day Project, 2B Gallery, Budapest, HU
Reminiszenzen aus Deutschland, Stadtmuseum, Wiesbaden, DE
Prisiminimai iš Vokietijos, Jonas Mekas Visual Arts Center, Vilnius, LT
Images out of Darkness, James Fuentes Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Jonas Mekas, Serpentine Gallery, London / MUAC, Mexico City, MX
The 365 Day Project, Centre Pompidou, Paris, FR
2011
Musique Plastique, agnès b. Galerie du jour, Paris, FR Ostalgia, The New Museum, New York, NY, USA
agnès b. Howard Street boutique, New York, NY, USA
This Side of Paradise, agnès b. Rue du Jour boutique, Paris, FR
2010
Cassis, James Fuentes Gallery, New York Armory Show, NY, USA
Bienal de São Paolo, São Paolo, BR
Illegal Living, 80 Wooster, New York, NY, USA
Eve of Fluxus, The Emily Harvey Foundation, New York, NY, USA
The Brucennial, New York, NY, USA
To New York with Love. James Fuentes Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2009
1968, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, DE
A Few Things I Want to Share with You, My Paris Friends, agnès b. Galerie du jour, Paris, FR
The Beast, FIAC art fair, The Film Gallery, FR
Destruction Quartet, James Fuentes Gallery, New York, NY, USA
1989, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, AT
Jonas Mekas, Gallery Toki no Wasuremono, Tokyo, JP
To New York with Love, Bas Fisher Invitational, Miami, FL, USA
Destruction Quartet, Kings County Biennial, Brooklyn, NY, USA
2008
Fondazione Ragghianti, Lucca, IT Museum Ludwig, Cologne, DE
2007
Recent Work, Maya Stendhal Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Serpentine Gallery, London, UK
The Film Gallery, FIAC art fair, Paris, FR
Jonas Mekas: The Beauty of Friends being Together, MoMA, New York, NY, USA
Jonas Mekas Visual Arts Center, Vilnius, LT
My Night Life (with Auguste Varkalis), The Film Gallery, Paris, FR
2006
Destruction Quartet, Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney, AU
Onestar Stop, Galerie Erna Hécey, Brussels, BE
The Expanded Eye, Kusthalle Zürich, CH Baltic Art Center, Visby, SW
Hirshhorn Museum, Washington D.C, USA
To New York with Love, Gallery Toki no Wasuremono, Tokyo, JP
He Stands in the Desert Counting the Seconds of his Life, Tamayo Contemporary Art Museum, Mexico City, MX
The Diary Film, Göteborgs Konsthall, SW
It All Comes Back Now in Glimpses, Sketch Gallery, London, UK
Brief Glimpses of Beauty, Mead Gallery, Warwick Arts Center, UK
Centrum Sztuki Współczesnej Zamek Ujazdowski, Warsaw, PL
2005
Farewell to Soho,” Moderna Museet, Stockholm, SW
Fragments of Paradise, Maya Stendhal Gallery, New York, NY, USA As I Was Moving Ahead, Pavilion of Lithuania at the 51st edition of the Venice Biennale, Venice, IT
2003
Jonas Mekas: A Camera for Jonas, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, FR
Utopia Station, 50th Venice Biennale, Venice, IT
Dedication to Fernand Léger, Museum of Contemporary Art, Vilnius, LT
Sideshow Gallery, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY, USA
Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, FR
Fables de l’Identité, Centre National de la Photographie, Paris, FR
2002
Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, FR Documenta XI, Kassel, CH
2000
Voilà, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, FR
agnès b Galerie du jour, FIAC art fair, Paris, FR
1999
Susan Inglett Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Pupelis Gallery, Obeliai, LT
agnès b. Galerie du Jour, Paris, FR
1998
Le Printemps de Cahors, Musée de Cahors Henri-Martin, Cahors, FR
Gandy Gallery, Prague, CZ
1997
Madrid Art Fair, Madrid, ES
Museum of Contemporary Art, Vilnius, LT
1992
Galerie National du Jeu de Paume, Paris, FR
agnès b. Galerie du Jour, Paris, FR
Still Gallery, Edinburgh, UK
Luarence Miller, New York, NY, USA
Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo, JP
agnès b. Galerie du Jour, Paris, FR
1983
Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, JP
1973
The Diary Film, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, USA
1972
Reason over passion. New forms in film, The Solomon R.Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY, USA
1968
Walden (Diaries, notes, sketches), Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY, USA
Grants & Awards
2017
BEN Award (category “Lifetime achievement award, influential artist moving image art”)
2015
Yoko Ono Courage Award
2013
Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, Ministry of Culture, FR
Francis J. Greenburger Award
Elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
2012
‘Carry Your Light and Believe’ Award, Ministry of Culture, LT
2011
George Eastman Honorary Scholar Award
2010
Life Achievement Award at the second annual Rob Pruitt’s Art Awards
2008
Baltic Cultural Achievement Award
Austrian Decoration of Honor for Science and Art (Õsterreichische Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft und Kunst)
2007
Los Angeles Film Critics Association awards special citation for “contribution to film art” Special Award from the Roswitha Haftmann Foundation, Zürich, CH
2006
REMINISCENCES OF A JOURNEY TO LITHUANIA added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress Directors Guild of America Award
2000
Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, Ministry of Culture, FR
1997
Pier Paolo Pasolini Award, Paris, FR
International Documentary Film Association Award, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Governors Award, Skohegan School of Painting and Sculpture
Doctor of Fine Arts, Honoris Causa, Universitatis Vytauti Magni, LT
1996
Special Tribute, New York Film Critics Circle Award
Doctor of Fine Arts, Honoris Causa, Kansas City Art Institute
1995
Lithuanian National Award
1992
Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, Ministry of Culture, FR
Mel Novikoff Award, San Francisco Film Festival
1989
Creative Arts Award, Brandeis University
1977
Guggenheim Fellowship
1966
Gold Medal, Philadelphia College of Art, “for the devotion, passion, and selfless dedication to the rediscovery of the newest art”
1964
Grand Prize (Documentary) awarded to THE BRIG at the Venice Film Festival
1962
Grand Prize awarded to GUNS OF THE TREES at the Porretta Terme Film Festival
Filmography
Cup/Saucer/Two Dancers/Radio (1965/1983), 23 min.
Guns of the Trees (1962), 75 min.
Film Magazine of the Arts (Summer, 1963), 20 min.
The Brig (1964), 68 min.
Award Presentation to Andy Warhol (1964), 12 min.
Report from Millbrook (1965/ 1966), 12 min.
Walden (Diaries, Notes, and Sketches), (filmed 1964-1968, edited 1968-69), 3 hrs.
Hare Krishna (1966), 4 min.
Notes on the Circus (1966), 12 min. Cassis (1966), 4 min.
The Italian Notebook (1967), 15 min.
Time and Fortune Vietnam Newsreel (1968), 4 min.
Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania (1971-1972), 82 min.
Lost Lost Lost (1976), 2 hrs. 58 min.
In Between: 1964-8 (1978), 52 min.
Notes for Jerome (1978), 45 min.
Paradise Not Yet Lost (aka Oona’s Third year) (1979), 96 min.
Self-Portrait (1980), 20 min., video.
Street Songs (1966/1983) 10 min.
Erik Hawkins: Excerpts from “Here and Now with Watchers”/Lucia Dlugoszewski Performs (1963/1983), 6 min.
He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life (1969/1985), 2 hrs. 30 min.
Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol (1990), 35 min.
A Walk (1990), 58 min., video.
Mob of Angels: Baptism (1990), 61 min., video.
Mob of Angels at St. Ann (1991), 60 min, video.
Dr. Carl G. Jung or Lapis Philosophorum (1991), 29 min.
Quartet Number One (1991) 8 min.
Zefiro Torna or Scenes from the Life of George Maciunas (1992), 34 min.
The Education of Sebastian or Egypt Regained (1992), 6 hrs. video.
Imperfect 3-Image films (1995), 6 min.
On My Way to Fujiyama (1995), 25 min.
Happy Birthday to John (1996), 24 min.
Cinema is Not 100 Years Old (1996), 4 min., video.
Memories of Frankenstein (1996), 95 min.
Letters to Friends (1997), 1 hr. 28 min., video. Birth of a Nation (1997), 85 min.
Symphony of Joy (1997), 1 hr. 15 min.
Scenes from Allen’s Last Three Days on Earth as a Spirit (April 1997), 67 min., video.
Letter from Nowhere — Laiškai iš niekur N.1 (1997), 75 min., video.
Song of Avignon (1998), 5 min.
Laboratorium Anthology (1999), 63 min., video.
This Side of Paradise (1999) 35 min., 16 mm.
Notes on the Factory (1999) 64 min., video.
Notes on Film-Maker’s Cooperative (1999), 40 min., video.
Autobiography of a Man Who Carried his Memory in his Eyes (2000) 53 min., video.
As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (2000) 4 hrs. 48 min.
Mozart & Wien and Elvis (2000) 3 min.
Silence, Please (2000), 6 min., video.
Requiem for a Manual Typewriter (2000) 19 min., video.
Remedy for Melancholy (2000) 20 min., video.
Letter to Penny Arcade (2001), 14 min. 33 sec., video.
Ein Märchen (2001) 6 min., video.
Ar Buvo Karas? (2002), 2 hrs. 28 min.
Mysteries (1966/2002) 34 min.
Williamsburg, Brooklyn (1949/2002) 15 min.
Travel Songs 1967-1981 (2003) 28 min.
Letter from Greenpoint (2004) 80 min., video.
Notes on Utopia (2003-5) 55 min., video.
Father and Daughter (2005), 4 min. 30 sec., video.
Notes on an American Film Director at Work: Martin Scorsese (2005), 1hr 20 min.
Scenes from the Life of Hermann Nitsch (2005), 58 min., film and video.
First Forty (2006). Forty short films, using materials from earlier films, re-edited specially for the Internet.
365 Day Project (2007). 365 short films, one for each calendar day of the year 2007.
Lithuania and the Collapse of the USSR (2008), 4 hrs. 49 min., video.
I Leave Chelsea Hotel (2009), 4 min.
Sleepless Nights Stories (2011), 114 min.
My Paris Movie (2011), 2 hrs. 39 min.
My Bars Bar Movie (2011), 86 min.
Correspondences: José Luis Guerin and Jonas Mekas (2011), 99 min.
Re: George Maciunas and Fluxus (2011), 87 min.
Mont Ventoux (2011), 3 min.
Happy Easter Ride (2012), 18 min.
Reminiszenzen aus Deutschland (2012), 25 min.
Out-takes from the Life of a Happy Man (2012), 68 min.
Requiem (2019), 84 min., video.
Writings
Knyga Apie Karalius ir Žmones, Tubingen, 1947 [in Lithuanian].
Movie Journal: The Rise of a New American Cinema, 1959-1971, Macmillan, 1972: Japanese edition, 1975. Spanish edition, 1976; French edition, 1992.
Three Friends: John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and George Maciunas, Tokyo, 1990 [in Japanese]; Lithuanian edition, Vilnius, 1998.
Laiškai iš niekur, Vilnius, 1997 [in Lithuanian].
Just Like A Shadow, text by Jerome Sans, frozen film frames by Jonas Mekas, Steidl, Göttingen, 2000.
Declarations de Paris, Editions Paris Expérimental, 2001 [in French and English].
As I Was Moving Ahead…, Editions Kinoshita, Tokyo, 2002 [in Japanese]. Text and narration from the film.
Fluxfriends (French edition of Three Friends: John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and George Maciunas), Centre Georges Pompidou, 2002.
Artist Book, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 2002.
Entretiens avec Jonas Mekas, Editions Paris Expérimental, 2006.
Anecdotes, translated by Jean-Luc Mengus, SCALI, Paris, 2007 [in French].
To Petrarca, Editions Dis Voir, Paris, 2009 [in both French and English editions]
Scrapbook of the Sixties; Writings 1958-2010, Spector Books, 2015
A Dance with Fred Astaire, Spector Books, 2017 Conversations with Filmmakers, Spector Books, 2018
Poetry
Semeniškių Idilės, Lithuanian edition, Žvilgsniai, Kassel, 1948; Japanese edition, Tokyo, 1996; enlarged Lithuanian edition, Vilnius, Baltos Lankos 1997.
Gėlių Kalbėjimas, Chicago, 1961 [in Lithuanian].
Pavieniai Žodžiai, Lithuanian edition, Chicago, 1967; Japanese edition, Tokyo, 1996.
Poezija, Vilnius, Vaga, 1971 [in Lithuanian].
Reminiscensijos, New York, Fluxus, 1972 [in Lithuanian].
Dienoraščiai, New York, Žvilgsniai, 1985 [in Lithuanian].
There is No Ithaca (English edition of Semeniškių Idilės and Reminiscensijos), translated by Vyt Bakaitis, Black Thistle Press, New York, 1996.
Dienų Raštai, Vilnius, 1998 [in Lithuanian].
Žmogus Be Vietos (Lithuanian edition of I Had Nowhere to Go), Baltos Lankos, 2000.
Poezija, Lietuvos Rašytojų Sąjungos Leidykla, Vilnius, 2002 [in Lithuanian].
Daybooks 1970-1972 (bilingual edition of Dienų Raštai), translated by Vyt Bakaitis, Portable Press, Brooklyn, 2003.
Žodžiai ir Raidės, Baltos Lankos, Vilnius, 2007 [in Lithuanian].
Idylls of Semeniškiai (bilingual edition), translated by Adolfas Mekas, Hallelujah Editions, 2007.
Diaries
I Had Nowhere to Go: Diaries, 1944-1954, Black Thistle Press, New York, 1991.
Zefiro Torna or Scenes From the Life of George Mačiunas, Arthouse, New York, 1998.
Žmogus Be Vietos (Lithuanian edition of I Had Nowhere to Go), Baltos Lankos, 2000.
Lettres de nulle part (French edition of Laiškai iš niekur, translated by Marielle Vitureau), Paris Expérimental, 2003.
Je n’avais nulle part où aller (French edition of I Had Nowhere to Go), P.O.L, Paris, 2004.
My Night Life (English, Italian, Lithuanian, and French editions), illustrated by Auguste Varkalis, Baltos Lankos, Vilnius, 2006.
Ningún lugar adonde ir (Spanish edition of I Had Nowhere to Go, translated by Leonel Livchits), Caja Negra, Buenos Aires, 2008.
Catalogs
Jonas Mekas, Hara Museum of Contempory Art, Tokyo, 1983.
Jonas Mekas, Galerie nationale du Jeu de paume, Paris, 1992.
Jonas Mekas: Films immobiles, une celebration, Galerie du Jour, Paris, 1996.
Jonas Mekas: Frozen Film Frames, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, 1996 [in Japanese].
Sustabdytos akimirkos, Contemporary Art Museum, Vilnius, 1997.
Jonas Mekas: This Side of Paradise, Galerie du Jour, Paris, 1999.
Jonas Mekas: Coversations, Letters, Notes, Misc. Pieces, edited by Liutauras Psibilskis, published by the Lithuanian Art Museum on the occasion of the Venice Biennale, 2005.
The Diary Film/Dagboksfilmen, edited by Liutauras Psibilskis, Moderna Museet, Stokholm, 2005.
The Avante-garde from Futurism to Fluxus, Jonas Mekas Visual Arts Center, Vilnius, 2007 [in English and Lithuanian editions].
Jonas Mekas, Fondazione Ragghianti, Lucca, Italy, 2008 [in Italian].
Jonas Mekas, published by Koenig Books, on the occasion of the exhibition “Jonas Mekas” at the Museum Ludwig, Cologne, 2008 [in English and German].
A Few Things I Want to Share with You, My Paris Friends, Galerie du Jour, Paris, 2009
Again, Again It All Comes Back to Me in Brief Glimpses, MMCA Editions, Seoul, 2017.