August 28, 2024

Two Warren Sonbert Films Screen in "The Motown Sound and the Queer Underground," curated by GME associate Matt McKinzie

August 28, 2024/ Jon Gartenberg

On Friday, August 30th, at 7:30pm, Warren Sonbert’s first two films AMPHETAMINE (1966) and WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO? (1966) will screen at Spectacle Theater (124 S. 3rd St.) in the program The Motown Sound and the Queer Underground, curated by GME associate Matt McKinzie as part of the series Sonic Visions: Experiments in Cinema and Music, presented by the Film-Makers’ Cooperative. Sonbert’s Estate has previously named GME as the custodian of his legacy, and since the artist’s untimely passing, GME has worked on an extensive project to preserve, distribute, and curate career retrospectives of his films on an international basis, as well as publish original documents from the paper archive of his writings.

April 30, 2024

GME Celebrates International Jazz Day with Hugh Bell: Jazz Portraits and Album Covers

April 30, 2024/ Jon Gartenberg

April 30th was declared International Jazz Day by UNESCO in 2011, and has since become the world’s largest celebration of jazz. In honor of International Jazz Day, GME highlights photographs from the Hugh Bell collection that capture a number of jazz legends from the 1950s through the 1980s.

April 18, 2024

Warren Sonbert's HOLIDAY Plays in Chicago In "Tone Glow Presents Pop Music as Prismatic Utopia"

April 18, 2024/ Jon Gartenberg

This Friday, April 19th, at 7pm, writer and programmer Joshua Minsoo Kim will screen Warren Sonbert’s FRIENDLY WITNESS in the second film program presented by his experimental music newsletter Tone Glow, titled Pop Music in Prismatic Utopia. The program will play at Chicago’s Sweet Void Cinema, a production company and microcinema located in Humboldt Park. GME is proud to represent the work and legacy of Sonbert, whose films — as evidenced by Kim’s program and a number of other screenings and retrospectives within recent years — have been experiencing a renaissance. FRIENDLY WITNESS, in particular, is a significant title in Sonbert’s oeuvre, as it demarcates his return to sound after many years of making silent montage films.

February 02, 2024

GME Remembers Mary Weiss, Lead Singer of The Shangri-Las

February 02, 2024/ Jon Gartenberg

GME remembers singer Mary Weiss, best known as the frontwoman of the 1960s girl group The Shangri-Las, who passed away on January 19th, 2024, at the age of 75. The cover photo for The Shangri-Las’ first album, Leader of the Pack, was taken by photographer Hugh Bell, whose vast collection GME represents. Notably, GME licensed Bell’s Leader of the Pack cover art for the 2022 film Call Jane, a 1970s-set abortion drama directed by Phyllis Nagy and starring Elizabeth Banks, which features the LP in one of its scenes.

May 02, 2023

GME Notes the Recent Passing of Barrier-Breaking Singer, Actor and Activist Harry Belafonte

May 02, 2023/ Jon Gartenberg

Harry Belafonte, who stormed the pop charts and smashed racial barriers in the 1950s with his highly personal brand of folk music, and who went on to become a dynamic force in the civil rights movement, died at his home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. He was 96.

February 18, 2023

African American Life and Legends Photographed by Jack Mitchell

February 18, 2023/ Jon Gartenberg

To celebrate Black History Month this year, GME would like to share some of the many outstanding photographs by Jack Mitchell of African American artists and individuals taken during his half century professional career chronicling a unique history of creators in the fields of dance, theater, music, the fine arts, and film and television.

February 05, 2023

GME Notes Critically Acclaimed New and Notable Bandcamp Release by William Susman

February 05, 2023/ Jon Gartenberg

American composer William Susman has created a distinctively expressive voice in contemporary classical music, with a catalog that includes orchestral, chamber, and vocal music, as well as numerous film scores. He is the composer of the haunting score for Steven Bilich’s 2006 award winning NATIVE NEW YORKER, a film that reflects on the enormity of the 9/11 attack on New York…

July 19, 2022

GME Notes the Recent Passing of Claes Oldenburg and Ivana Trump

July 19, 2022/ Jon Gartenberg

Two bold-face named New Yorkers passed this week, individuals who personified their respective areas of interest, one in the arts and the other in the art of public perception. Both were among the iconic subjects of photographer Jack Mitchell’s camera. Jack Mitchell (1925 – 2013) photographed artists, dancers, film and theatre performers, musicians and writers in more than 6,000 individual sessions. His work frequently appeared on the cover of major magazines as well as in newspapers.

June 29, 2022

GME Celebrates the Legacy of Photographer Jack Mitchell During Pride Month

June 29, 2022/ Jon Gartenberg

As Pride month comes to a close, GME celebrates the legacy of photographer Jack Mitchell. In 1957 Jack met Bob Pavlik. Within a few weeks they moved together into a large apartment at East 74th Street and York Avenue that afforded them adequate space for a photography studio and darkroom. Bob became Jack’s business and life partner. Over the course of a career spanning more than half a century, Jack Mitchell (1925 – 2013) photographed artists, dancers, film and theatre performers, musicians and writers in more than 6,000 individual sessions.

February 24, 2022

GME is Proud to Announce our Exclusive Partnership with the Jack Mitchell Archive

February 24, 2022/ Jon Gartenberg

Over the course of a career spanning more than half a century, Jack Mitchell (1925 – 2013) photographed dancers, artists, musicians, writers, and film and theatre performers, in more than 6,000 individual sessions. As part of GME’s ongoing commitment to further the legacy of photographers and their work, we are proud to announce an exclusive partnership with the Jack Mitchell Archives. Our goal is to place this unique and comprehensive collection with a major cultural institution, to secure high-profile exhibitions of his photographs worldwide, and to make available the licensing rights to these reproduced images.

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