Tom Who? The Enigma of Tom Kreisler

Documentary portrait on 20th-century New Zealand painter Tom Kreisler, following his life and his art – both of which were influenced by Mexican traditions and the Pop Art movement.

"If the art of Tom Kreisler (1938–2002) remains a secret, Shirley Horrocks’ richly illustrated doco does everything right to make it less so. A uniquely cosmopolitan figure in the New Zealand arts scene, he grew up in Argentina, the son of Austrian refugees from Nazi Europe. At age 13 they sent him to Christchurch, where a well-to-do uncle and aunt adopted him. (Ian Athfield was a boyhood friend.)

"He left New Zealand and travelled the world before returning and entering art school. In his first dealer show, with what proved to be characteristic Pop Art verve he mocked the Arts Council 1967 tour of a replica of Michelangelo’s David by exhibiting a giant painting of the statue’s penis." (New Zealand International Film Festival)

Less