Screening Date: Sun. Nov. 12, 2023
Time: 2:30pm
Venue: Trylon Cinema
Cost: $15
Premiere Status: MN
Run Time/Year/Country: 86min, 2023, USA
Director: Alex Rappoport

Co-presented by Selig Polyscope Co., The Trylon

When filmmaker Alex Rappoport met then-79 year old abstract artist Peter Bradley in early 2020, Bradley hadn't sold many paintings nor had a major show in over four decades - yet he still painted every day in a shipping container studio heated by a wood stove, no matter what the weather. Over time, Rappoport recorded Bradley's process – deeply inspired by modern Jazz music – and fascinating life story.  Bradley was the first Black haute art dealer in New York; likely the first Black abstract artist represented by a major New York gallery; and curator of what is considered the first integrated modern art show in America.  Talented, willful and arrogant, Bradley lived life to its fullest - until he fell upon hard times in the 1980s that nearly ended his career.  We meet the artist at a critical juncture - deeply committed to the expressive power of color, painting gorgeous pictures at a prolific pace, but without an audience to appreciate them. But even as his canvases pile up on the floor, the film is buoyed by Peter’s exuberant spirit and warm sense of humor.

At once an intimate portrait and a deep study of the creative process, WITH PETER BRADLEY is situated entirely at the artist’s rural home and studio, and unfolds over the course of changing seasons.  The sole figure on screen, Bradley narrates his life is in a series of unscripted conversations: often provocative, sometimes bitter, and full of surprises.   As a child, Bradley met and befriended A-list musicians including Miles Davis and Art Blakey, and he still listens to their music as he paints. The critically lauded, original Jazz film score composed by tenor saxophonist Javon Jackson and recorded live-in-studio by the Javon Jackson Quintet, is an integral part of the film; the soundtrack of Peter’s life.