An animated-film maker from Maryland, Brent Green’s films use the beauty of detritus and the hand-made to create dystopic worlds inspired by his own family history.

At Bellwether, Green will exhibit two short films, several animated drawings and a sculpture related to his most recent short film, Paulina Hollers, a modern Appalachian folk tale of empathy, tragedy, and hope.

Paulina Hollers follows the story of a disagreeable boy’s death and banishment to Hell, his distraught mother’s suicide, and their bid for escape from the underworld. The film alternates between the three dimensional living world where Paulina, a hand carved wooden figure in a skeletal dress, lives amongst crooked homes and spinning birds, and a hand-drawn Hell populated by spindly Giacometti-like characters. Exposing his creative process with visibly numbered drawings and scotch tape revealed on screen, Green’s film progresses anxiously from one scene to the next, depicting a kind of melancholy that is a captivating image of fantasy and human pathos.

Additionally, the gallery will be screening Carlin, shot in Green’s childhood home. Haunted by a wooden skeleton, a raffia haired figure in a wheelchair, chickens, and bees, the film moves through the unfurnished run down home to provide a brief but telling glimpse of the space which inspired Green’s present work and aesthetic.

Brent Green has a series of upcoming events in addition to the exhibition. They are:

January 10, IFC Film Center, NYC, “Brent Green presents an evening at the IFC” January 18-28, Sundance Film Festival, Park City, UT, screenings of “Paulina Hollers” January 23, Knitting Factory, NYC, screening and live performance with The Magik Markers February 15-16, Walker Art Center, MN, screenings of “Paulina Hollers”