Brown Arts

NO, IT IS

April 25 - June 16, 2024
EXHIBITION
A triptych video installation translates Kentridge’s flip book, NO, IT IS (2012) into a film format across three flat screens, including Workshop Receipts, The Anatomy of Melancholy, and Practical Enquiries.

Exhibition Information

April 25 - June 16, 2024
Cohen Gallery, Granoff Center for the Creative Arts
154 Angell Street, Providence, RI, 02906

Free and open to the public
Monday - Friday: 9 AM - 5 PM
Saturday: 12 PM - 6 PM
Sunday: 12 PM - 8 PM

About NO, IT IS

No, It Is Design
 

William Kentridge
NO, IT IS, 2012
Three-channel high-definition video (color, sound)
Duration variable
The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Alice and Tom Tisch, 2015

William Kentridge’s NO, IT IS (2012) is a triptych of animated flipbook films. The looped and asynchronous films—Workshop Receipts, The Anatomy of Melancholy, and Practical Enquiries (all 2012)—are displayed on three 50” flat screens. Kentridge calls his animation technique “stone-age filmmaking,” which is a laborious process, wherein he draws, documents, and repeats the action. Ultimately, each frame undergoes various alterations, as the narrative unfolds through time and film takes form.

The presentation in the Cohen Gallery also offers an interactive reading space with a selection of various Kentridge monographs and artbooks. These varied materials illustrate Kentridge’s expansive oeuvre, which includes etching, drawing, collage, animation, sculpture, theater, and opera. 

At its core, the presentation seeks to ignite inquiries about the entwined processes of discovery through making in the studio and experimentation as its tenets. NO, IT IS concludes the semester-long William Kentridge and the Centre for the Less Good Idea residency at the Brown Arts Institute.

Stop Motion Animation Workshop

Join Providence-based animator Joel Orloff for MAKING MOVING MARKS, a two-hour creative workshop inspired by William Kentridge’s stop motion animations.

Part IV of Kentridge's Artistic Innovators Residency

About William Kentridge

William Kentridge headshotWilliam Kentridge is a draughtsman, performer, filmmaker, and is the founder of The Centre for the Less Good Idea. Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Kentridge is internationally acclaimed for his drawings, films, theatre, and opera productions. Embracing collaboration and cross-pollination of various media and genres, including performance, film, literature, and more, his work frequently responds to the legacies of colonialism and apartheid, within the context of South Africa’s socio-political landscape.

IGNITE logo with Ballon effect

Brown Arts’ IGNITE Series uplifts the spirit of artistic collaboration across Brown, Providence, the Rhode Island region, and beyond. Ignite your creative curiosity through this multi-year series of programs, activations, interventions, and investigations.