- Keith Banner
The Story of Montgomery Clift's Face
robert mcfate has an
art show at
thunder-sky, inc.
this gallery
bill and i started
and we're shutting down
this year
ironically
during
the plague
but beyond that
robert just needed to have this art show -- he'd been thinking about it
hell for a long time
and that's why we opened the gallery in the
first place
so any which way he installed the show
took reservations
to see it
due to covid-19 shit
and tonight he asked bill and me
to do a zoom
to talk about the works in it
he assigned me
this piece (below)
liz taylor in
raintree county
glossy and gigantic on a drive-in
screen
and i didn't actually
know what to say
until
we all started talking
about liz's fake southern-belle
accent
and the story of montgomery clift's
face
which got ripped to shreds
in a drunk-driving accident
during the shooting of
raintree
and they took some time off
to give monty time to heal
but even with extensive cosmetics
you can tell
he has been through
hell and he ain't ever
going to be ok
and so he's in the movie before and after
right?
handsome into gargoyle
sometimes
within the same shot
kind of a joke
um
kind of not
and yet liz
salvages his dignity through her
eyes
monty was her
best friend on earth
and through some kind of beautiful
fag-hag magic
and grace
she carries us past
our own meanness
in that movie
she dares us to
laugh
because her love
protects
her love
shields
and that's southern somehow
pretending not to see
gnarled flesh
and sadness
pretending
who you love
is who you love
no matter what
they look like
no matter what
they do
and that's kind of
everything
in a way
isn't it?
