Out of the Picture

"Out of the Picture" takes us inside the lives of some of the most relevant writers on art today, thinkers who are making sense of a period of unprecedented change to art, media and society. "Out of the Picture" is the first feature-length documentary to be made in the U.S. about one of the art world’s most mysterious figures – the art critic. For more than a decade, we have turned our cameras on critics navigating rapidly changing art and media landscapes, writers such as Carolina Miranda, of the Los Angeles Times; Hrag Vartanian, of Hyperallergic; Jen Graves of The Stranger; Jeneé Osterheldt of The Boston Globe; and Seph Rodney, independent critic. We have conducted interviews with powerful art world personalities, such as artist Catherine Opie; author Sarah Thornton; and critics Roberta Smith, Jerry Saltz, and Peter Schjeldahl. We’ve also rooted our work in deep reporting. While a Nieman Fellow at Harvard, director Mary Louise Schumacher led a national survey of more than 300 arts writers across the U.S., revealing new facts about the art world’s power structures. "Out of the Picture" is poised to prompt a national conversation about the nature of art, modern life, and how meaning gets made in the 21st century.