Joan Braderman

Joan Braderman, pluripremiata videoartista, regista e scrittrice, è attiva da oltre 25 anni nel mondo del cinema e della videoarte come sceneggiatrice, artista e produttrice. Nata a Washington, DC, si è laureata ad Harvard e alla New York University. Le sue opere fanno parte delle collezioni permanenti di importanti istituzioni come lo Stedelijk Museum di Amsterdam, il Centre Pompidou di Parigi e il Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) di New York. Negli anni ’70 a New York, dopo aver studiato cinema 16 mm, ha iniziato a lavorare con il video, girando e montando su nastro analogico. Ha prodotto documentari socialmente e politicamente impegnati, tra cui For a Bicentennial Without Colonies (1977) e The People’s Convention (1980). In collaborazione con artisti come Dee Dee Halleck e Skip Blumberg, ha realizzato Waiting for the Invasion (1984), un documentario critico verso la politica estera americana in Nicaragua, vincitore del Global Village Award for Best Documentary. Nel 1985 ha co-prodotto Tell Them for Us; Mother in Nicaragua con la cineoperatrice Jane Lurie, raccontando l’incontro tra donne nordamericane e nicaraguensi. Nel 1975 è tra i fondatori della rivista femminista "HERESIES: A Feminist Publication on Art and Politics", punto di riferimento per l’intersezione tra arte e attivismo. È conosciuta per il suo stile innovativo di “stand-up theory” – video-performance personali, critiche e ironiche sulla cultura pop, i media e le donne. Tra i suoi lavori più noti:

Natalie Didn’t Drown, JB Reads the National Enquirer (1983, con Manuel De Landa),

Joan Does Dynasty (1986), satira feroce contro la soap opera Dynasty, incluso nella Whitney Biennial del 1987 e definito “il video femminista più diffuso mai realizzato”,

No More Nice Girls (1989), riflessione su femminismo e invecchiamento,

Thirty Second Spots Re-Examined (1989), critica alla censura nei media americani,

Joan Sees Stars (1992, co-diretto con Dana Maestro), girato mentre era malata e dedicato alla cultura delle dive e alla malattia del suo amico Leland Moss.
Nel 1994 le è stata dedicata una retrospettiva al DeCordova Museum. È stata docente alla School of Visual Arts, al Boston Museum School, al London Institute e alla Universidade Católica Portuguesa, dove nel 2002 ha ricevuto la cattedra Fulbright Distinguished in Video. Ha inoltre insegnato presso la Hartford Art School come Koopman Chair in Visual Arts. I suoi lavori hanno ricevuto sovvenzioni e premi da istituzioni come il National Endowment for the Arts, la MacArthur Foundation, il New York Foundation for the Arts, il Massachusetts Cultural Council, l’American Film Institute, tra gli altri. Tra le sue produzioni recenti, Para No Olvidar (2004), un breve video realizzato con Crescent Diamond come omaggio visivo all’Avana Vecchia per l’Ufficio dello Storico della Città. Joan Braderman vive circondata dall’amore dei suoi amici, del compagno Bob, dei suoi gatti Ocho e Cava, e del suo padre novantenne. Ama nuotare, danzare e cantare.

 
Joan Braderman is an award-winning video artist, writer, and filmmaker who has worked in film and video as a writer, artist, and producer for over 25 years. Born in Washington, DC, she earned degrees from Harvard and New York University. Her works are part of the permanent collections of leading institutions such as the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City. In the 1970s, after studying 16mm film, she began working in video in New York, learning to shoot and edit reel-to-reel black-and-white footage. Braderman created politically engaged documentaries such as For a Bicentennial Without Colonies (1977) and The People’s Convention (1980). With collaborators like Dee Dee Halleck and Skip Blumberg, she made Waiting for the Invasion (1984), a critique of Reagan’s support for the Nicaraguan Contras, which won the Global Village Best Documentary Award. In 1985, she co-produced Tell Them for Us; Mother in Nicaragua with CBS cameraperson Jane Lurie, documenting solidarity between North and Central American women. In 1975, she co-founded the groundbreaking feminist publication HERESIES: A Feminist Publication on Art and Politics. Braderman is best known for her bold, performative video essays — blending theory, humor, and critique — a style dubbed “stand-up theory.” Highlights include:

Natalie Didn’t Drown, JB Reads the National Enquirer (1983, with Manuel De Landa),

Joan Does Dynasty (1986), a satirical deconstruction of the TV show Dynasty, included in the 1987 Whitney Biennial and hailed as “the most widely viewed feminist video ever made,”

No More Nice Girls (1989), an introspective work blending fiction, autobiography, and collage,

Thirty Second Spots Re-Examined (1989), addressing free speech and media censorship,

Joan Sees Stars (1992, co-directed with Dana Maestro), filmed during a long illness and reflecting on celebrity culture and friendship.

She was honored with a retrospective at the DeCordova Museum in 1994 and became the Koopman Chair of Visual Arts at Hartford Art School in 1996, where she also created her first installation. In 2002, she held the Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Video at Universidade Católica Portuguesa. Her work has been supported by numerous prestigious institutions, including the National Endowment for the Arts, MacArthur Foundation, American Film Institute, New York Foundation for the Arts, and others. In 2004, Braderman collaborated with Crescent Diamond on Para No Olvidar, a short digital video collage of Havana streets created for the Office of the Historian of Havana. Joan enjoys swimming, dancing, singing, and spending time with her beloved cats Ocho and Cava, her partner Bob, her cherished friends, and her spirited 90-year-old father.