Alfred Leslie

Alfred Leslie is a pivotal American artist-painter-filmmaker whose work spans the past fifty years. A contemporary of the Abstract Expressionists and a key figure in the extraordinary social milieu of downtown New York from the 1950s and 60s to the present, his own canvases were amongst the most revered of his peers. In 1964 he made 'Pull My Daisy' with the photographer Robert Frank and in 1966 collaborated with the inimitable poet Frank O'Hara on 'The Last Clean Shirt'. Leslie dramatically moved away from abstraction to make giant almost hyper-real portraits, the majority of which were destroyed in the now infamous fire that ripped through his studio and its neighboring blocks on October 17, 1966. This devastating event, that completely destroyed paintings, films and manuscripts, continues to inform his work today.

Filmmaker, Walter Forsyth sets out on a journey to make a tribute film about photographer/filmmaker, Robert Frank, deconstructing the documentary form along the way. With appearances by Albert Maysles, Nick Broomfield, ex-Rolling Stone Mick Taylor, Alfred Leslie and Matt Damon. "He pulled a sad poem right out of America, taking his place among the great poets of our time" - Jack Karoac.

A look at avant-garde filmmaker Marie Menken.

A black-and-white travel journal, in which the themes of memories and their relationship to the past suddenly catch up and rush away from us. The film is based on a series of portraits of American artists, all of whom belong to a young and politicized generation, presented in static tableaus from their studios, films and home environments.

An autobiographical documentary about Alfred Leslie's film career.

Alfred Leslie is a pivotal American artist-painter-filmmaker whose work spans the past fifty years. A contemporary of the Abstract Expressionists and a key figure in the extraordinary social milieu of downtown New York from the 1950s and 60s to the present, his own canvases were amongst the most revered of his peers. In 1964 he made 'Pull My Daisy' with the photographer Robert Frank and in 1966 collaborated with the inimitable poet Frank O'Hara on 'The Last Clean Shirt'. Leslie dramatically moved away from abstraction to make giant almost hyper-real portraits, the majority of which were destroyed in the now infamous fire that ripped through his studio and its neighboring blocks on October 17, 1966. This devastating event, that completely destroyed paintings, films and manuscripts, continues to inform his work today.

Based on an incident in the life of Beat icon Neal Cassady and his wife, the painter Carolyn, the film tells the story of a railway brakeman whose wife invites a respected bishop over for dinner. However, the brakeman's Bohemian friends crash the party, with comic results. Pull My Daisy is a film that typifies the Beat Generation. Directed by Robert Frank and Alfred Leslie, Daisy was adapted by Jack Kerouac from the third act of his play, Beat Generation; Kerouac also provided improvised narration.

Alfred Leslie's Birth of a Nation 1965 consisted of separate plays drawing upon the words of O'Hara and the writing of the Marquis de Sade.

An autobiographical documentary about Alfred Leslie's film career.

In this short film, comprising a single shot, a man and woman take a car ride through downtown Manhattan. The woman speaks in double-talk Finnish, which is interpreted into a brilliantly beautiful story through subtitles written by O’Hara.

Shot in Alfred Leslie’s Bowery loft on Fourth Avenue and 12th Street, this silent production footage belies the long-held belief that Pull My Daisy was purely improvised, offering a tender glimpse of Leslie clowning with Frank’s artist wife Mary Frank and young son Pablo. — Museum of Modern Art