This weekend I attended a private screening of Icon, a film that had recently made its world premiere at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.
A tight 60 minute documentary by Palm Springs director Teddy Grouya, the film explores the life and motivation of an artist who paints religious icons. Romanian artist and current Palm Springs resident, Titiana Popa, was in attendance with a display of her impressive artwork. She graciously honored Grouya with a carefully detailed painting at the close of the evening.
Most interesting was the idea of creating art as a hand of God, not as a painter striving towards personal goals. Popa's work adorns churches in both the United States and Romania, and each piece is created as a religious exercise rather than a step in vanity.
The film was shown at an impressively expansive Rancho Mirage home, complete with a screening room just off of the main living room. As someone who only recently upgraded to plasma from a 10-year-old television (bought during grad school for cinematic distraction from my studies -- I should've known then that my future was not in primatology), I was terribly jealous. With sparse landscaping and stickers on the windows, the new home is still in stages of remodeling, but the owners know enough to tackle the important rooms first. I caught the second screening of the night but squeezed in late enough to miss a cushy seat. No matter, as Grouya personally assured the quality of the screening. I was told he's a stickler for such matters, and who wouldn't be with their own work at stake?
In addition to Popa's family (including two young daughters who loaned their voices to the lovely choral soundtrack), the attendees kept the celebration lively. The conversation ranged from the late, admired Earl Greenburg to world travels (U.S. cruises are far too short) to men's cosmetics (American men are in denial about an untapped market). Of course, the focus of the evening fell to the future of Icon and the appreciation for Grouya's dedication to such an interesting topic.
Comments (1)
Ahh - your life rocks!
Posted by Diane | February 6, 2008 5:01 PM
Posted on February 6, 2008 17:01