Ovation Partners with the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage for the World Premiere of Seductive Subversion: Women Pop Artists, 1958-1968

Screening Scheduled in Philadelphia on November 19. World Television Premiere on Ovation, Wednesday, November 24.

Ovation, the only multi-platform network devoted to art and contemporary culture, has partnered with The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage for the world premiere screening of Seductive Subversion:  Women Pop Artists, 1958-1968 on Friday, November 19 at the University of the Arts Levitt Auditorium in Philadelphia.  Ovation will also provide the world premiere television broadcast on Wednesday, November 24 at 8 p.m. ET.

Seductive Subversion:  Women Pop Artists, 1958-1968 by Glenn Holsten, 1997 Pew Fellow in the Arts, is the first film to examine, in depth, the works of female Pop artists and their place within and contributions to art during the late 50s and better part of the 60s.  The film focuses exclusively on some of this decade’s most innovative artists whose works have largely been overshadowed by their high-profile male contemporaries.  

Artists featured in the film include Marisol Escobar, whose 1963 "John Wayne" sculpture, was commissioned by Life magazine for an issue on movies, and Yayoi Kusama, who continues to create groundbreaking art with her trademark hallucinatory polka-dot motifs. Niki de Saint Phalle, Chryssa Vardea and Rosalyn Drexler are among the other artists featured in the documentary. Women Pop Artists highlights over 50 works -- some not seen publicly in 40 years.

“We are delighted to be partnering with Ovation on bringing this important film to a national television audience”, notes Paula Marincola, Executive Director of The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. “The stories it tells of these talented women, as it focuses attention on their often overlooked achievements, are enormously compelling and inspirational.”

The film was created as a companion piece to the exhibition presented at the University of the Arts earlier this year and presents insightful personal accounts through nostalgic and entertaining archival footage, interviews with the artists and art historians and installation footage with exhibition curator Sid Sachs.   

"This excellent film is a real eye-opener -- a must-see for anybody who thinks they know pop art,” said Kris Slava, SVP, Programming, Ovation.  “It makes you want to run out and see the exhibition.  We're really proud to be partnering with the Pew Center to give it the national audience it deserves."  

The exhibit, “Seductive Subversion: Women Pop Artists, 1958–1968” is at the Brooklyn Museum now through January 9, 2011.  The exhibit and film have been supported by The Pew Center for the Arts & Heritage through the Philadelphia Exhibitions initiative with additional support from the Marketing Innovation Program.  Additional funding for the film has been provided by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation and the Quaker Chemical Foundation.

In addition to the Philadelphia screening, Ovation is planning other screenings in Brooklyn and Manhattan.

About Ovation:
Ovation is the only multi-platform network devoted to art and contemporary culture. The network creates and curates one-of-a-kind programming about all the art people enjoy most, from the popular to the avant-garde and everything in between. The channel reaches a national audience of 43 million households through carriage on cable systems, DirecTV (channel 274), Dish Network (channel 157) and telco systems nationally.  Ovation HD is available on cable systems in select markets.  Ovation’s programming is also available on video on demand (in both standard and high definition). Ovation’s popular website (http:// www.OvationTV.com) is a dynamic experience, featuring information about local and national happenings in the art world, as well as a vibrant community of artists who have uploaded over 150,000 pieces of original art.

About The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage:
The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage (www.pcah.us) is dedicated to stimulating a vibrant cultural community in the five-county, Southeastern Pennsylvania region. Established in 2005, the Center houses seven funding Initiatives of The Pew Charitable Trusts, and through them supports area artists and arts and heritage organizations whose work is distinguished by excellence, imagination, and courage. Each year, the Center’s grants make possible more than 800 performances in dance, music, and theatre as well as history and visual arts exhibitions, and other public programs for audiences in Philadelphia and its surrounding counties. The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage is funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts and administered by The University of the Arts, Philadelphia.