Anthology Film Archives Presents:
'Homage to Ricardo Nicolayevsky (1961-2023): Un poeta en New York'

Known for experimental work that delved into themes of gender and sexuality, Ricardo Nicolayevsky was an influential and multifaceted queer Mexican artist who pushed past cultural and formal structures at every turn to create his own style of transgressive lyricism. His creative endeavors spanned various disciplines, including music, cinema, video, literature, and cabaret.

Born in Mexico City in 1961, Nicolayevsky moved to NYC in 1982. There, he studied musical composition and musicology while earning a BFA in Cinema Studies from New York University. During this formative period, Nicolayevsky’s most significant work began to emerge through film. He used Super 8 and 16mm cameras to document the vibrant creative community around him—comprising young New York artists, friends from Mexico, and notorious New York luminaries of the era (hello Michael Musto!).

His films featured experimental in-camera techniques, innovative editing, and original musical scores, creating multilayered portraits that explored diverse personas, desires, and cinematic influences. His work drew from sources such as Lumière (if Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory were made while on mushrooms), the Surrealists, Warhol, Kenneth Anger, and beyond. The full impact of his work, later termed “Lost Portraits”, became evident only years later, receiving significant acclaim in the 1990s and 2000s.
This program, curated with Nicolayevsky’s close friend and creative partner-in-crime, media artist Ximena Cuevas, and organized by Kathy Brew, Carlos A. Gutiérrez, and Maria-Christina Villaseñor, honors Nicolayevsky’s enduring legacy by screening a selection of “Lost Portraits” alongside later works.

NYC 1983 (1983, 2.5 min, super-8mm-to-digital)
A Letter From Katia (1984, 2.5 min, super-8mm-to-digital)

From The “Lost Portraits” series (1982-85, Super-8mm-and-16mm-to-digital):
Ricardo 1 – Self Portrait Apt. 2B (6.5 min.)
Mariana 1 (1 min.)
Ted (Tv Eros) (1 min.)
Ula 1, (1.5 min.)
Ximena (2 min.)
Rosa 1 (1 min.)
Pajarita (3.5 min.)
Michael (1 min.)
Marilyn (1 min.)
Mark (11 min.)
Maribel (1 min.)
Ximena & Ricardo (2.5 min.)
Lily 1 (1.5 min.)
A Portrait of Billy Boy (1.5 min.)
Amie 1 (1.5 min.)
Eddie & Lyndell (1 min.)
Eddie & Lyndell 2 (1 min.)
Katia & Lula on Mushrooms (1 min.)
Katia & Ricardo on Heroin (1.5 min.)
Scratches on My Brain (1982, 1.5 min., 16mm-to-Digital)

From the series “Autorretratos eróticos”:
Histoire de l'oeil (2009, 1 min., digital)
Autoportrait dans un hôtel de putes (2005, 1 min, digital)

From the Series “Polipticos”:
The Parallel Lives of R.N. (2009, 1 min., digital)

From the series “La vie parisienne”:
La Mort d’Adonis (2005, 1 min., digital)
Mime Gaté (2005, 1 min., digital)
Le Bain du Comte (2005, 1 min., digital)
Julie! (2002, 13.5 min., 16mm-to-digital)
The Big Whack (2002, 2.5 min, 16mm-to-digital)

From the “Lost Portraits” series:
Juan Pablo & Enrique (1982-85, 1 min., digital)

Total running time: ca. 65 min.

Thursday, November 7, 7:30pm
Anthology Film Archives
32 Second Avenue (at 2nd Street), New York City
For more information visit: www.anthologyfilmarchives.org