The Philoctetes Center is proud to host an evening centered on artist Kiki Smith, whose work is now the subject of a show at the Whitney entitled "Kiki Smith: A Gathering, 1980-2005," which runs from November 16, 2006 to February 11, 2007. Following the screening of Squatting the Palace, Ms. Smith and filmmakers Vincent Katz and Vivien Bittencourt will discuss issues raised in the film, with special attention on the artist's creative process. The panel will then address questions from the audience.

From the Checkerboard Film Foundation website:
"This video takes a circular approach to an artist who works in overlapping spirals of creative energy. Smith works in her home—not in a space specifically designed as a studio but on the 2nd floor of her East Village townhouse. There, amid her books, a pet bird, and tiny kitchen, Smith goes from drawing to collaging to modeling clay to painting plaster casts and back, again and again, moving from one discipline to another in a way that can seem aimless to a casual observer, but which is actually modus operandi of a highly sophisticated visual artist.

"Over the course of the video, it becomes apparent that many of the pieces Smith is creating—including sculptures, photographs, prints and furniture fashioned from liquor boxes—are intended for an eight-room installation at the Fondazione Querini Stamplia in Venice, to open contemporaneously with the 2005 Venice Biennale. We see Smith collaborating with artisans fabricating her sculptures and observe her daily interactions with her assistants. We then follow Smith to Venice and witness the complex installation of her exhibition, which proves to be an integral part of the conceptual whole. The video culminates in a detailed look at the completed exhibition, Homespun Tales: Stories of Domestic Occupation, widely regarded as one of the most successful exhibitions that summer in Venice."

The Center gratefully acknowledges Checkerboard Film Foundation for permission to screen this film. The event is free and open to the public. Seating is on a first come basis.