With themes and images drawn from motion picture posters, Theo Angell’s Cinema Pandemico pop-up art show at the Patricia Theatre provides abstract posters for viewers to explore.
Angell, who is himself a filmmaker, has been keeping himself busy during the COVID-19 pandemic creating new posters out of old.
“Each art piece in this unique show is a collage made entirely of old movie posters donated by the Patricia Theatre,” said Angell. “It takes the idea of the Hollywood dream machine one step further and reassembles it into a glorious mashup of unintended plots and subtext. New narratives are born.
“Often revealed is Hollywood’s complicity in promoting violence and social conditioning. Are you safe enough? Are you too safe? All the subject matter was readily available in the messages from these posters.”
Angell said strong themes of Armageddon and pandemonium abound, as well as the occasional glimpse of spiritual renewal and harmonious humanity.
“This is the dream within the dream,” said Angell.
All the art was made during these last few months of the COVID-19 period and the entire show is set up in the Patricia Theatre windows facing out to the sidewalk and the public, taking advantage of the theatre’s natural exterior showcase for passersby.
“All ages are welcome,” said Angell. “Bring your own popcorn and a prayer for the Patricia Theatre.”
He said his inspiration for the art show, in part, came from living in New York City and seeing movie posters in the subway, posted on top of each other.
“Folks, when waiting for their trains, had knives come out, pens come out,” said Angell. “People end up cutting into the movie posters and other posters are revealed under the top layer. The layers get deeper and more complex. It’s an influence and an inspiration for me.”
He said he also goes to Portland, Oregon, to visit family, and posters on telephone poles get “fat” because there are so many of them.
“Those get ripped off so I’ve been photographing them, and I’ve ripped off chunks and brought them home,” said Angell. “I just love the idea of something being out in the public, rearranging it and diving into the mythology.”
Angell said he moved to Powell River, discovered the Patricia Theatre and got to know Ann and Brian Nelson, the owners.
“I got to go to the balcony and I saw bags and bags of movie posters and I got really excited,” said Angell. “I asked if I could bring some home and they said, ‘sure.’”
Angell’s collection of Patricia Theatre posters was the foundation for his latest art show.
“There’s a lot of themes and they come from a bunch of different films,” said Angell. “I had more than 100 posters and I started organizing them by theme, by colour, or other factors. It’s amazing, for example, how many posters had guns in them. Every third poster must have had one.”
The newly configured images provide fodder for the mind to wander and plenty of opportunity for individual interpretation, according to Angell. Some of the reconfigured posters on display at the Patricia Theatre even capture some of the dreams he has had.
Angell said with the pandemic, he has been a stay-at-home dad, so he’s had time to be at home, with his children, keeping busy with his art.
