User:Denyso/sandbox

= James Higginson = James Higginson (born April 21, 1957) is an American filmmaker, fine artist, and photographer based in Berlin, Germany. His artworks and films address social issues and expose human frailty.

Early life and education
Born James Harold Higginson, Jr in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to James Harold and Louise Betterly Higginson. He is the oldest of 5 children, raised in a suburb of Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Higginson received his BS in Marine Biology in 1978 from Pennsylvania State University. He attended night school at Museum of Fine Arts School, Boston, Mass. and attended Art Center College of Design (1982-4). He received his MFA in Studio Art from Claremont Graduate University in 1990.

Marine Biologist
Higginson was a biologist before becoming a fine artist. He worked as a research assistant for Texas State University at the St. Croix Marine Facility, USVI (1979) and as research technician at Boston University Biology Department (1980-2).

Getting Started in Art and Film
He moved to Los Angeles to attend Art Center College of Design (1982) and was hired by a Disney subsidiary to work on a children’s TV show, “Welcome to Pooh Corner” (1984) and then Production Designed the TV show “Dumbo’s Circus”(1986).

In 1988, Higginson was awarded a Daytime Emmy with the creative team, Gary Panter, Ric Heitzman, Wayne White, Jeremy Railton, and Paul Rubens for the Production Design/Art Direction/Set Decoration of the CBS cult classic TV show, Pee-wee's Playhouse (1987-88). He worked as a set decorator for commercial director Joe Pytka and with set decorator Judi Giovani on the film Sandlot (1993). He worked as the prop master for MADTV (1995-2003).

Art Career
Higginson’s artworks diverge from painting and sculpture in his early career through performance and photography in mid-career and then into film.

Painting
As a painter, Higginson was invited to collaborate with Chinese Master Xie Tien Cheng in 1989 on a body of 30 paintings that combined techniques of Western conceptual art making with elements of traditional Eastern painting. Over the course of the five-week collaboration, the two artists contemporized the subjects, modes, and styles of the T’ang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.). as well, they addressed the tumultuous political climate of the current time and the events surrounding the Tiananmen Square Massacre. These paintings were exhibited at the Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, California in 1993.

Photography
Higginson’s photography took focus by the late 1990s. In “Portraits of Violence”, he tackled the issue of domestic violence with life-size, color, staged photographs. Using lectures, panel discussions, tours, and live performances, Higginson then expanded the dialogue between his artwork in the museum and the community. “Portraits of Violence” has been exhibited worldwide in galleries and museums in California, New York, Berlin (C/O Berlin ), Budapest, and Cologne. A hardcover book of this photography series, POV:Portraits of Violence, was published in 2004.

See ↓ Exhibitions

Filmology
Higginson grounded the production companies Avonbiehl (2011-2019) and Allaluce Films (2022-present) in support of film and photographic projects. He has produced, directed, written, and worked as the DOP for


 * Willful Blindness (2012), an experimental feature,
 * Devout (2017), a feature documentary, and
 * Shuddhi (film, 2023), a docu-hybrid short film.

Teaching
Higginson is a guest lecturer, having addressed audiences at the University of Southern California, Otis School of Art, Claremont Graduate University, and Laguna Art Museum in California (USA). He has also addressed audiences at BTK (today UE Germany), FHTW, C/O Berlin, HBG (Germany), FOTO K (Vienna, Austria), University of East London (UK), Fatamorgana (Copenhagen, Denmark) and Pearl Academy, St Pauls College for Women, and Atharva College/Mumbai University (India). Higginson is currently teaching Photography at SRH-DAB, Berlin.

Willful Blindness (2012) — www.willfulblindnessmovie.com
WILLFUL BLINDNESS rakes the boundaries of distant memory and familiar present. Three interwoven narrative threads are reconstituted in an unconventional, experimental, kaleidoscopic rollercoaster ride that becomes this visual experience. Surreal and shocking, yet oddly meditative, is a stunning journey into personal choice and survival.


 * Italian Premier: Screened during 55th Venice Biennale, 2013


 * German Premier: Neuer Deutscher Film Series, Berlin, 2013

- Jeanne Willette

Devout (2017) — www.devoutmovie.online
DEVOUT provides a glimpse into the life of a 22-year-old Georgian Orthodox monk as he contemplates his understanding of faith. The film bears cinematic witness to his internalized struggle as it presents a visual portrait of the monks, their contemporary, ritualistic lives, and the work inside the monasteries.

Shuddhi (2023) — www.shuddhi.de
SHUDDHI, a poetic blend of documentary and auteur cinema, interweaves themes of humanness, fear, love, judgement, and the never-ending cycle of water. SHUDDHI reveals the reality of Hansen's Disease (Leprosy) and its enduring stigma, creating a meditative portrait of familial tenderness and cultural respect against the backdrop of India's rivers, landscapes, and a remaining hospital for the disease.

Outreach and community engagement
Higginson’s interest to serve the community has reached outside the Fine Art World. To utilize the arts as a tool to elevate public awareness of pressing social problems, Higginson established the graphic design company d3G in 1999. d3G created graphics, photography, and artwork for community-focused projects designed to educate, inform, and inspire current and future generations.

During 2000-01, d3G focused on HIV education creating a Safe Sex Campaign in cooperation with the US cities of West Hollywood and Los Angeles and organizations including Aid for AIDS, L.A. Shanti, and the Van Ness House. Media coverage of this campaign extended to Berlin, Germany, with magazine articles discussing the significance of Safe Sex in the gay community. In June 2001, Higginson’s image, entitled Metamorphize, was selected to represent the event commemorating the 20th Anniversary of AIDS in Los Angeles. The d3G tagline, “become someone to admire” branded the citywide, multi-media day of remembrance.

Solo Exhibitions
2015: BEHOLD: Perspectives at play in a young man’s mind, Haus am Kleistpark, Berlin, Germany

2007: Inheritance, Raab Galerie, Berlin

2007: I LOVE YOU: Portraits Against Violence, Studio DuMont, Cologne, Germany

2006: Searching Sierra Madre, Raab Galerie, Berlin, Germany

2005: I LOVE YOU: Portraits Against Violence, Ernst Museum, Budapest, Hungary

2005: Recollections, Sala Museale del Baraccano, Bologna, Italy

2003: Portraits of Violence, C/O Berlin, Berlin, Germany

2003: POV: Sacrifice, Momenta Art, Brooklyn, New York

2002: POV: The Story of Shelley, Post, Los Angeles, California

2001: Nachdenken/Ponderance, MillerDurazo Gallery, Los Angeles, California

2000:  Shapes & Compositions, MillerDurazo Gallery, Los Angeles, California

1992: The China Paintings, Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, California

1992:The Continuation of Life Series, Bevery Hills Library, California

1990: o.u. being, East Gallery, Claremont Graduate School, Claremont, California

1989: The China Paintings, Grand Hall, Guilin, P.R.China.

1987: Brethern, Eilat Gordin Gallery, Los Angeles, California

Selected Group Exhibitions
2010: PIXXELPOINT Video Festival, Gorizia

2010: Europäischer Monat der Fotografie Wien

2010: Tammen Galerie, Berlin

2009: Tammen Galerie, Berlin

2008: Tammen Galerie, Berlin

2008: Fotogalerie Wien, Wien, Austria

2007: Like There is no Tomorrow, Galerie Caprice Horn, Berlin

2007: Berlin-LA Interface, Ballhaus Naunynstrasse, Berlin

2005: DEFENSE: Body and Nobody in Self Protection, UC at Riverside, CA.

2004: Aufruhr der Gefuehle, Museum of Photography, Braunschweig, Germany

2004: Aufruhr der Gefuehle, Kunsthalle Goeppingen, Goeppingen, Germany

2002: Gallery Kobo Chika, Tokyo, Japan

2002: Post, Los Angeles, California

2001: Post, Los Angeles, California

1999: Art & Democracy II, Merging One Gallery, Santa Monica, California

1999: Big Wave 2, Andrew Shire Gallery, Los Angeles, California

1999: Scapeland, Post, Los Angeles, California

1994: Symbolic Garments, Cypress College Gallery, Cypress, California

1993: Sue Spaid Fine Art, Los Angeles, California

1992: FarBazaar, Los Angeles, CA

1989: Art & Democracy, Merging One Gallery, Santa Monica, California

Selected Performances
2003: Lao Niao: A Walk with Light to Love, C/O Berlin, Berlin, Germany

1999: Lao Niao, Merging One Gallery, Santa Monica, California

1998: Lao Niao, Akademie der Kunst, Berlin, Germany

1994: o.u. being, Cypress College, Cypress, CA

1990: A HUNGER, igLoo Theater, Los Angeles Festival for Freedom of Expression

1990: o.u. being, Claremont Graduate School, Claremont, CA

1989: John Woodall’s Gim Crack, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA

1989: The Goat Story, LACE Rough Cuts & UCLA Works in Progress, Los Angeles, CA

1988: The Goat Story, Drama Workshop, Sydney, Australia.

Links
www.jameshigginson.com — Personal Website

www.imdb.com/name/nm1240529/ — James Higginson on IMDb

www.allaluce.de — Higginson's Production company for film and photography

www.imdb.com/title/tt2187199 — Movie WILLFUL BLINDNESS on IMDb

www.imdb.com/title/tt5666158/ — Movie DEVOUT on IMDb

www.imdb.com/title/tt30441763 — Movie SHUDDHI on IMDb