Shadow & Light:
The Life & Art of
Elaine Badgley Arnoux
Elaine Badgley Arnoux has lived the artistic life to its fullest. Coming of age in an era when avant-garde art - and the freewheeling life that went with it - was still seen largely as a boys' club, Arnoux traveled the world, changing homes, countries, and lovers, and following her artistic vision with abandon. Inspired rather than deterred by her femininity, she undertook fiery large canvasses depicting the social upheavals of her times, as well as serene collective portraits of people inhabiting the places she has loved most - Biot, in southern France, and San Francisco, California. At 82 years old, Arnoux remains a revelation of dedication and vision, with a mischievous appetite for life and art. She puts it this way:
"I was very old when I was young - I wasn't young until I was old."
In Shadow & Light, director William Farley (John O'Keefe's Song of Myself, Darryl Henriques Is In Show Business, The Old Spaghetti Factory, In Between the Notes) offers another deft and revealing portrait of an outsider artist who defies stereotypes of gender, culture and age. Farley tells a story not only of one determined artist, but also of artistic creation itself.
HD, color/sound, 28 minutes. 2009