Queen of Hearts: Audrey Flack 2019
Distributed by Film Movement
Produced by Deborah Shaffer
Directed by Deborah Shaffer
Streaming, 75 mins
High School - General Adult
Art; Art History; Feminism
Date Entered: 11/17/2020
Reviewed by Andrew Koval, MSLSQueen of Hearts: Audrey Flack is a biopic on the life of this pioneering artist and her work in the photorealist art-genre. Flack’s story as a first-generation college student who went on to succeed as an artist will be relatable to many. This aspect of her life alone gives scenes emotional weight. And respectively, the fact that Flack became the first female photorealist artist further defines the significance of her career.
Flack offers her examination of art history and photorealism. Emphasizing the importance of an artist’s contemporaries as an influence for her own creations. This insight affords one to better understand Flack’s self-awareness. In reaction to her formal art education Flacks began studying and painting from photographs of American culture. Flack’s “Vanitas” collection offers a sampling of this. This conveys well the artist’s vision for inclusive art. And this notion resulted in Flack pivoting to producing public sculptures of strong sleek women who serve as inspiration to all genders. For instance, Flack’s statue titled “The Rock Hill Goddess” is representative of inclusive art.
The film seamlessly interweaves Flack’s personal and professional challenges. And synthesized that Flack’s is a person of regard in life and in the art-genre of photorealism. A similar title pertaining to photorealism is Tim’s Vermeer (2013) which explores a man’s quest to paint an exact replica of Johannes Vermeer’s realist painting “The Music Lesson” (1662-1665). Queen of Hearts: Audrey Flack is most appropriate for audiences seeking cultural enrichment communicated in plain language.
Awards:
2020 Winner Documentary Feature Editing Ashland Independent Film Festival; Hamptons Doc Fest Audience Award Winner 2019; Indie Grits 2020 Visionary Women Award