[Frameworks] Peter Mays R.I.P.

[Gene Youngblood]

Poignant news. In my memoir-in-progress, I remember Peter rehearsing with Single Wing at Sam Francis’ studio On Ashland Street in Ocean Park, using his hands as projection masks. And being on the mezzanine with him for Single Wing's spectacular shows for Pinnacle concerts at Shrine Exposition Hall. We hung out at Pinnacle after-parties at the "White House" where John Van Hammersveld and other Pinnacle people lived, and I visited Peter occasionally in the Fox Venice projection booth. This tall, lanky, dark-haired, likable guy wasn’t as  talkative as some other members of Single Wing, but I beleive his quiet dedication to that art form anchored them. I interviewed Peter for my 1968 article about Single Wing in the Los Angeles Free Press, with a double-page color layout of their imagery.

Gene & Jane Youngblood
(505) 395-6370 home

On March 4, 2019 at 7:02:00 PM, Adam Hyman (adam at lafilmforum.org) wrote:

Greetings.  Los Angeles based filmmaker, painter, projectionist, and filmgoer Peter Mays passed away last night.  Peter was one of the longest members of the experimental film community in LA, going back to when he started a film society in the UCLA Art Department in 1962 to screen underground films that he had read about.  He made multiple film & video works over the years, was a founding member of the  of the Single Wing Turquoise Bird Light Show and the one continuing member in all of its iterations, and also served as projectionist at the Fox Venice and at CAA to make ends meet.  In later years, he was often painting at home in Santa Monica.

Filmforum had a screening with him in 2010, and showed his films at different time through the years, and as part of Alternative Projections.  His most well-known work, “Death of the Gorilla” is really wonderful, and was also featured on the cover of the book Art Cinema, by Paul Young, for Taschen Press.  We’ll be doing two screenings this month honoring him, shows that were already being planned, and were hoping that he might have been in condition to attend.  Although that didn’t happen, I hope that you all will be able to come to at least one, and that those of you who knew him might say a few words.  Here’s more on him at Alternative Projections, and an oral history.
https://www.alternativeprojections.com/people/peter-mays/
https://www.alternativeprojections.com/oral-histories/peter-mays/

And his Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/petermays22
Two of his films have been restored by Mark Toscano at the Academy Film Archive, Death of the Gorilla and The Star-Curtain Tantra.  Those will be part of the first of two screenings we will have at Filmforum honoring Peter Mays, on March 17 and 31, 2019.

We’ll miss him.

Very truly yours,

Adam

--
Adam Hyman
Los Angeles Filmforum
adam at lafilmforum.org
http://www.lafilmforum.org



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