Painted Landscapes of the Times (1987)

Plot Summary

To this day, Sue Coe continues to shock and inform the art establishment with her graphic depictions of the world around her. This energetic and moving film introduces Coe’s passionate art and explores her vision and remains the only film on her work. In the tradition of Käthe Kollwitz, George Grosz, and Otto Dix, Coe’s visual journalism has a keen ideological thrust that identifies and addresses aberrations in our society. With a fierce precision Coe uncovers the base violence inherent in a range of political and social issues – from apartheid and the arms industry, to rape and gentrification. Yet, as the film reveals in a spirited exchange between the artist and young people, Coe’s work is accessible to everyone. The film features one of Coe’s most memorable works; “Woman Walks into Bar — Is Raped by Four Men on the Pool Table — While 20 Watch”. First exhibited at PPOW Gallery in 1983, this powerful and prescient painting now belongs to the Museum of Modern Art.

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