REMEMBERING WILLIE VARELA

We were very sad to hear of the recent passing of El Paso-based, Mexican-American film and video artist Willie Varela on February 24, 2024 at the age of 74. Last March, Aurora Picture Show presented Varela in person and screened a selection of his films and videos made between the 1970s and ‘90s. Sadly, this would be his last public appearance.

Living and working most of his life in the West Texas border town, Varela created more than 100 experimental films and videos, as well as photographs and installations. Among his greatest influences was the pioneering experimental filmmaker and theorist Stan Brakhage, who became a friend and mentor to Varela beginning in the late-1970s. Varela’s work has screened at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, including a dedicated program presented as part of the 1988 series “Cineprobe” and inclusion in the 1998 exhibition “Big As Life: An American History of 8mm Films". Varela had a mid-career retrospective at the Whitney Museum of Art in 1994, and had work included in two Whitney Biennial exhibitions (1993, 1995). One-person shows have also been presented at the San Francisco Cinematheque, Los Angeles Film Forum, Chicago Filmmakers, Anthology Film Archives, Pacific Film Archives, Austin Film Society, Rice Media Center, Guadalupe Central Arts Center San Antonio, and elsewhere. His photographs and visual/text pieces have been exhibited at the El Paso Museum of Art and San Antonio Museum of Art. Varela was an artist-in-residence at ArtPace in San Antonio in 1994, and was an assistant professor of film studies at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) 1997-2006. Varela’s papers are archived at the Stanford University Libraries and his films are archived at the UCLA Film and Television Archive.

In his memory, we’ve posted here a 30-minute audio piece including his 2023 talk at Aurora, in which Varela spoke with Peter Lucas about navigating his Mexican-American identity in El Paso in the 1950s and 60s, his first ever solo screening at the San Francisco Cinematheque in the 1970s, his intersections with Stan Brakhage and other influential film artists, and more. This is a nice, brief primer of Varela’s life, and a reminder of the special evening for those who were in attendance. (The audience Q&A is not included here due to inferior sound quality.)

For a limited time, we are also making available an hour-long selection of his short films and videos made between the 1970s and 90s. This includes Detritus, The Remix (1989/2002, sound, 12:10); Recuerdos de flores muertas (1982, sound, 6:58); Ghost Town (1974, silent, 2:43); Bent Light (1976, silent, 3:17); The Last Look (1981, silent, 1:53); In Progress (1985, sound, 12:30); His Hidden Presence (1998, sound, 10:10).