Jonas Mekas Film and Art Exhibition
Ice House Gallery, September 14 – December 15, 2026
Opening Reception: Thursday, October 22, from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Monmouth University, Department of Art & Design, in collaboration with The Jonas Mekas Art Estate, Deborah Colton, OUTPOST NYC DCG and Parlor Gallery are pleased to present, Jonas Mekas Film and Art Exhibition.
Jonas Mekas is the Founder of Anthology Films in New York, a filmmaker, poet, writer, and artist. Jonas Mekas captured moments that we all cherish in art history, in American history, in life… from filmmakers, Salvador Dali, Kennedy’s, Warhol, Yoko Ono and John Lennon, Elvis Presley, the World Trade Center… to the more personal special moments of nature, his family, being human and celebrating life, cherishing each experience to the fullest. Jonas Mekas was born in 1922 in Semeniskiai, Lithuania. In 1949 he emigrated to the U.S. together with his brother, settling in New York. He has been one of the leading figures of American avant-garde filmmaking playing various roles: His films have been screened extensively at festivals and museums around the world. In 2005 he represented Lithuania at the Venice Biennale, the exhibition was noted with Special Mention price for extraordinary presentation of contemporary classic art. Jonas Mekas has received awards from New York State Council on the Arts, Rockefeller Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Golden Medal from Philadelphia College of Art, Guggenheim Fellowship in 1966, Creative Arts Award in 1977, Brandeis University in 1989; Mel Novikoff Award at San Francisco Film Festival, 1992; Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from Ministry of Culture, France in 1992 and 2000; Lithuanian National Award, 1995; Doctor of Fine Arts, Honoris Causa from Kansas City Art Institute in 1996; Special Tribute, New York Film Critics Circle Awards in 1996; Pier Paolo Pasolini Award, Paris in 1997; International Documentary Film Association Award, Los Angeles, 1997; Governors Award, Skohegan School of Painting and Sculpture, 1997; Artium Doctoris Honoris Causa, Universitatis Vytauti Magni, Lithuania in 1997. Jonas Mekas was honored at the Los Angeles Film Critics Association’s award ceremony for his significant contribution to American film culture and had a solo exhibition at Ludwig Museum in Cologne, Germany. Mekas participated in an extensive presentation at Serpentine Gallery, London and the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia, at the Cinémathèque Royale and the Bozar Center for Fine Arts, both in Brussels, Belgium. Jonas continues to involve himself in creative projects and exhibitions, which include showings at the Centre Pompidou, the Cesis Art Festival in Latvia, and at the Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, Germany, and the Venice Biennale in 2015. Since Jonas Mekas died in 2019, there have been countless awards, honors and exhibitions dedicated to his life and work.
The limited-edition series of works in this exhibition was co-produced by Jonas Mekas and Deborah Colton at Deborah Colton Gallery in 2013. The works then went to Paris Photo LA, Los Angeles, California at the Deborah Colton Gallery booth in 2013, then to Deborah Colton Gallery, Houston, Texas where they exhibited at the Houston Fine Arts Fair and the Dallas Art Fair several times at the Deborah Colton Gallery booths. Later this body of works went to the Jordan Schnitzer Museum at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. Last summer Parlor Gallery in Asbury Park, New Jersey hosted an exhibition of these works. This past spring this series of works were also shown at solo exhibition at The College of William and Mary’s Andrews Gallery, in Williamsburg, Virgina.
Free and open to the public
Gallery Hours: Monday – Friday 10 – 5.
For additional Information please contact Gallery Director Scott Knauer at: 732-923-4786 or by email at: sknauer@monmouth.edu or visit Monmouth.edu/MCA
