Living Colour is a fascinating documentary and intimate portrayal of a collective of extraordinary and idiosyncratic artists and sheds new light on old questions about the nature of art and artistic talent.
Spending time in the Kilkenny Centre for Arts Talent (KCAT) in Callan, an artists’ studio with a difference, director Éamon Little delves into the world of the dozen or so artists who work there on a daily basis, all of whom have some form of special needs. But the studio operates with as little reference to that as possible and offers this collective of diverse characters a well equipped, professional artistic environment in which makingart is their work and not merely a hobby or sideline. Here, they work to commissions, build towards exhibitions and engage with artists in similar situations around the world.
Living Colour is a fresh and emotionally stirring look at art and those that create it. Given that the artists have all, to one degree or another, special needs, the film could, in the hands of a lesser director become overly sentimental or clichéd.
Little, however, employs the deftest of touches to deliver a sumptuous film that is perfectly balanced yet still pays tribute to arts, the creative process and the artists involved.
Colm McAuliffe,
Jameson Dublin International Film Festival
Éamon Little will attend the screening
