Filmmaker Kenneth August Meyer’s new documentary Angel Applicant offers a window into the artwork of 1900s painter Paul Klee through their shared diagnosis of diffuse systemic scleroderma, according to an article published in Artnet News. In the new documentary, Mr. Meyer discusses the ways in which the disease adversely affects his skin and joints. He then compares his experiences to the later paintings of Mr. Klee—such as his Mask Pain (1938), Little Blue-Handed Man (1939), Fear of the Mirror (1939), and Suddenly Rigid (1940)—to reveal a deeper understanding of the painter while simultaneously painting his own picture of what it’s like to live with scleroderma. Mr. Meyer explains that after receiving his diagnosis in 1933, Mr. Klee transformed his artwork style to include thicker lines and more expressive colors and took on a more geometric framework—a reflection of the physical limitations the disease inflicted on his artistic control. Describing his documentary as “a scleroderma awareness piece disguised as an art film,” Mr. Meyer hopes to shed light on the disease and the final years of Mr. Klee’s life. Angel Applicant received the Grand Jury Award for Documentary Feature at the South by Southwest film festival on March 13, 2023.
May 25, 2023