A natural extension of his discursive criticism, poetry, and painting, Wayne Koestenbaum's filmic forays are poetic and mesmeric, and sometimes deliriously farcical. His luxuriously lo-fi monologues drip with spontaneous wit and slippery eroticism. His stop-motion animations with improvised piano accompaniments are visually dazzling, scrappy yet delicate, and with nimble musical scores of his own devising. His experiments with hand-painted and hand-altered 16mm film, using found footage or blank film stock, feature explosive color and dream-like Pop patterning. Other shorts are spare experiments in cinéma-vérité—observational glimpses of private lives. We will leak this expansive body of work in batches over the coming months to spread the joy.

A New York-based artist, performer, filmmaker, poet, cultural critic—and Distinguished Professor of English, French, and Comparative Literature at the City University of New York, Koestenbaum had written acclaimed books about Andy Warhol, opera, Harpo Marx, humiliation, and Jackie Onassis. He is perhaps best known for his essays (collected in his books My 1980s & Other Essays, Figure It Out, and Cleavage), which combine autobiography and analysis with rueful, comic brio. His many collections of poetry include Best-Selling Jewish Porn Films and Camp Marmalade. His latest collection of poetry, Stubble Archipelago, is out now from Semiotext(e).

“[Koestenbaum] is not without genius, mischief, or gonads. When the lurid steam clears, his bedewed lines coruscate amidst hot shadows that leap with a kind of pink spermy glee. Hilarious, gorgeous, intellectually playful, fairy-light… all in ways I’ve NEVER encountered before. Utterly thrilling!” —Guy Maddin