The Calgary Cinematheque is pleased to present, in conjunction with ArtCity, the fourth installment in one of the most notorious and celebrated film cycles of our time. Cremaster 2 moves back and forth in time, from the execution of convicted murderer Gary Gilmore in 1977, to the World's Columbian Exhibition in 1893, where Harry Houdini, who may have been Gilmore's grandfather, performed. The film begins with Gilmore's conception, where his grandmother and parents take part in séance in order to summon Houdini. The film travels over the life and death of Gilmore, including his killing of Utah gas station attendant and his subsequent trial and execution, and ends with Gilmore's grandmother meeting Houdini at the Columbian Exhibition. Following and interpreting Barney's notoriously intricate mythology is a challenge, but the film's true power lies in the film's spectacular visual imagery, which includes footage shot in the Columbian Ice Fields, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and in the Bonneville Salt Flats of Utah.

Installation artist Matthew Barney created the Cremaster films out of order, between 1994 and 2002; Cremaster 2 resonates with the themes and symbolism presented across the cycle, but can also be appreciated as an autonomous work.