“I didn’t decide to be an artist, I was.”
“Jacob Kainen: The Last Expression” Documentary
The film’s world premiere will take place at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, at Noon on Saturday, February 22, 2025. A panel and Question & Answer discussion will follow. The screening is free, but please register here.
Jacob Kainen (1909-2001) was one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century, not only as an accomplished and lauded painter and printmaker, but as an academic and important curator. Often forsaking his own career to mentor and teach dozens of artists who saw major successes, this short documentary showcases Jacob’s extraordinary life and art to a wider audience and a new generation.
Spearheaded by the Jacob Kainen Art Trust, in association with Hemphill Artworks, and curators Jonathan F. Walz (The Columbus Museum) and Seth Feman (Frist Art Museum), the film is produced by Jon Gann at Reel Plan, and directed by award-winning documentarian Mark Covino.
The film beautifully captures Jacob’s spirit and accomplishments and features art experts, historians, friends, family, and some of the artists Jacob mentored.
For more information about the film, please contact Jon Gann at jon@reelplan.com.
For more information about the Jacob Kainen Art Trust, please contact Teresa Grana at teresa.grana39@gmail.com.
Bios
Mark Christopher Covino
Mark Christopher Covino is a director, producer and editor. His first feature film, “A Band Called Death,” won the Audience Award at SXSW in 2013 and was released theatrically to rave reviews around the world. It has a 94% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. His second film, the award-winning documentary, “The Crest,” was released by Gravitas Ventures in 2019. Mark also produced the Sci-Fi Adventure film, “Axcellerator (2020),” starring Sean Young (“Blade Runner”), Sam Jones (“Flash Gordon”) and Maxwell Caulfield (“Empire Records”).
Jon Gann
Jon Gann is a film producer and director, creating award-winning commercial, documentary and narrative films since 2000. His most recent award-winning productions include the feature documentary “Karen Carpenter: Starving for Perfection,” exploring the singer’s career and struggle with an eating disorder through her friends and never-heard recordings, and the short documentary, “Miss Alma Thomas: A Life in Color,” detailing the incredible life of the DC-based African-American abstractionist painter.