Living in Studio Kuchar

Living in Studio Kuchar highlights the inimitable genius of independent film legend and SFAI faculty member George Kuchar, who died in September 2011. Coinciding with the exhibition, a campus-wide special event, SFAI Celebrates the Life and Work of George Kuchar, will follow the opening reception on March 8. 

Kuchar’s wildly original vision—tawdry yet tender, perversely humorous, and deeply personal—fueled a body of work spanning more than 200 films and videos, as well as paintings, drawings, comics, and writing. Beloved by generations of students, Kuchar had taught at the San Francisco Art Institute since 1971, where he and his students in “AC/DC Psychotronic Teleplays” and the sequel course “Electro-graphic Sinema” made melodrama parodies with minuscule budgets and remarkable spirit.

This exhibition will situate Kuchar’s work in the specific locale and community of SFAI, which for four decades served not just as a workplace, but as a site of experimentation and collaboration; a network of students, filmmakers, and friends; and his emotional home. With a gallery design featuring props from films as well as personal memorabilia, the exhibition will highlight seminal films such as Hold Me While I'm Naked, class films made with SFAI students, selections from the long-running project “Weather Diaries” (including his last, rarely seen, video Hot Spell), and drawings and comics.