Portait of Jason II: Rebirth of the B*tch: Artist's Statement

"Portrait of Jason II" Web Site

Single Channel Video, Sound, 1 hour 43 min 44 sec, 2010

Shirley Clarke's 1967 documentary, "Portrait of Jason," chronicles the musings of Jason Holliday, an African-American man and self-avowed "stone whore" over the course of an evening in late 1960s New York City. "Portrait of Jason II" is a playfully serious "sequel:" an extrapolation and (re-) evaluation of this landmark film, in which I revives Holliday's spirit.

The often repeated charge that Jason Holliday was no more than an 'middle-aged black homosexual prostitute' reduces the richness of experience and character of the subject of this film to facile stereotypes. "Portrait of Jason II" is neither scripted nor extemporaneous, fiction nor documentary. By blurring the lines between of self-confessional truth and acting, performance and reality, I seek to add another layer to an already complexly constructed film personality. With this video, I give Jason Holliday the final word.

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