*Our campaign is now finished and we are thrilled with how much you helped us raise! Thank you everyone.*
If you missed the deadline and would like to make a general donation towards the Stuart Croft Foundation, you can do this here: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/stuart-croft-foundation.
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Stuart Croft Foundation invites you pledge your support for the development of the first ever monograph on highly influential artist filmmaker Stuart Croft (1970-2015).
Stuart Croft Foundation is developing a beautiful new book that will be the first monograph to focus on the highly influential artist-filmmaker Stuart Croft (1970 - 2015). We’re aiming to raise £5,000 by 7th December 2022, offering donors the chance to receive limited-edition rewards relating to the artist's work.
About the book
Stuart Croft played a pivotal role on the development of artists’ moving image in Britain through his own ground-breaking practice as well as his seminal teaching role at the Royal College of Art, London where he established the Artists’ Moving Image Pathway and influenced at least two generations of moving image artists from the UK and abroad.
The book will focus on Croft’s highly cinematic film stills and production photographs, as well as drawings, draft scripts, and handwritten production notes from his extensive archive. The acclaimed novelist Deborah Levy and the highly esteemed psychoanalyst Darian Leader, who both knew Croft personally, will provide essays for the publication, and Croft’s own writing will also be included. The book is certain to be lively, innovative, and insightful.
It will be exquisitely designed and published in partnership with The Everyday Press and will be made available to purchase in Autumn 2023.
Our hope is that it will be an invaluable tool to anyone interested in the history of artists’ moving image and its critical role in the history of contemporary British art.
The rewards
The Stuart Croft Foundation is offering a number of exciting campaign rewards relating to Stuart Croft's work. These have been produced for the first time by the Foundation as limited editions, available to donors in return for various pledges:
A print of Remetior by Stuart Croft
Remetior is Stuart’s Croft’s final and unreleased work, filmed in 2014 and funded by Arts Council England and Royal College of Art. The film was shot on Super-16mm by DoP Catherine Derry and featured actor Akie Kotabe in the main character role. The Stuart Croft Foundation have produced a high-quality limited-edition print of a still from Remetior. The print comes unframed, in a presentation box.
A special edition DVD of Rococo 55 by Stuart Croft
Rococo 55, which was structured into five narrative sequences connected by a series of slow dissolves, was first presented in London as a single-screen gallery projection on a continuous loop and opened on Friday 1st of November 2002. Stuart Croft also created a DVD for ‘Rococo 55’, building on its ‘b-movie’ aesthetic to produce a linear version of the film that could be mass produced and easily accessible beyond the gallery. Now, twenty years after the film’s first release, Stuart Croft Foundation are re-producing this DVD as a special limited-edition.
Please note: the image above is the original DVD produced by Stuart Croft. The new reproduction DVD will include additional labelling from the Stuart Croft Foundation.
Stuart Croft Postcards
Century City (2006), Stills Photographer: Hugo Glendinning, Image courtesy of Stuart Croft Foundation
Comma 39 (2011), Stills Photographer: William Martin, Image courtesy of Stuart Croft Foundation
Drive In (2007), Stills Photographer: Hugo Glendinning, Image courtesy of Stuart Croft Foundation
HIT (2003), Stills Photographer: Melanie Manchot, Image courtesy of Stuart Croft Foundation
The Stag Without a Heart (2010), Stills Stills Photographer: William Martin, Image courtesy of Stuart Croft Foundation
A collection of high-quality postcards are available, featuring stills from a selection of Stuart Croft's films (see above). You can choose either an individual postcard inside an envelope or a set of five inside a presentation box. Postcards are printed on 100% recycled card.
Stuart Croft Badges
A collection of high quality badges are also available featuring stills from selected films of Stuart Croft: Comma 39 (2011), Drive In (2007), and The Stag Without a Heart (2010). You can choose either an individual badge or as a set of three, with both options presented inside a small box. Each badge is 25mm (1") diameter, of metal construction and with a classic D-Pin fastening.
Become a named supporter
All donors who pledge £10 will be given the option to have their name on the Stuart Croft Foundation's website.
If you have any questions about this campaign and the rewards, please get in touch with the Stuart Croft Foundation [email protected]
About Stuart Croft
Stuart Croft (1970 – 2015) was a London-based artist / filmmaker. He graduated from Wimbledon School of Art in 1994 and went on to gain an MA from Chelsea College of Art and Design in 1998.
His dialogue-based, character-driven films often focus on themes of power, recurrence, entrapment and desire. Croft explored the relationships between art and cinema and his works have been presented as installations or single-screen projections within galleries, contemporary art museums and cinemas. The films have been shown in over 25 countries to date.
Croft also taught fine art and film and became a highly-respected educator. In 2009 he founded the Royal College of Art’s Moving Image Studio and in 2013 he established the RCA’s new Moving Image Pathway. He was a recipient of various production awards, research grants and commissions including awards from Arts Council England, Arts and Humanities Research Council, Royal College of Art and Bloomberg.
Visit Stuart Croft’s website to view clips, along with a full biography, filmography, and publication history: www.stuartcroft.com
Image above: Stuart Croft (right) on set of 'Comma 39' with DoP Jean-Louis Schuller (left)
About Stuart Croft Foundation
Stuart Croft Foundation was established by the family and friends of the artist after his death in 2015 and was registered as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation by the Charity Commission (September 2015, registered charity no 1163676). Our mission is to make accessible the legacy and archive of artist-filmmaker Stuart Croft, to exhibit his moving-image works, and increase public understanding and knowledge of contemporary moving image practice.
The Foundation placed Stuart Croft's Archive of films and working documents within the BFI National Archive to ensure the preservation of his legacy, and since 2018, the Stuart Croft archive catalogue has been accessible via the BFI Special Collections. In 2019, the Foundation made available a selection of 51 of Stuart Croft’s film stills images via the Artimage website.
Between 2017 and 2020, the Foundation offered small funding grants through the SCF Awards, which enabled artist filmmakers, researchers, and curators working in and between the gallery and the cinema to undertake and complete small-scale projects, where other funding options may be difficult to obtain.
In 2021, the Foundation partnered with Alchemy Film & Arts, Birkbeck Institute of Moving Image (BIMI) and Jupiter Woods to host Questions, an online series of events delivered by Stuart Croft Foundation inviting artists, curators, researchers and writers working with artists’ moving image to discuss the process of thinking and making behind their projects.
You can learn more about the work that we do on our website:
www.stuartcroftfoundation.org
Thank you!
Whatever your budget, we welcome your contribution.
And of course, please do share with anyone who may be interested in supporting this campaign!