Opening reception: Saturday, November 10th, 7-10 pm

 

On November 10th, Queens presents Maura Brewer’s new video Jessica Manafort. Jessica Manafort* is Paul Manafort’s oldest daughter. Paul Manafort was Donald Trump’s campaign manager from June - August 2016. He was recently convicted on eight counts of financial crimes and lying to the federal government. 

Jessica Manafort is a filmmaker. In 2007, she wrote and directed her first feature length film, a teen drama called “Remember the Daze.” According to reports, Paul Manafort invested millions in its production.** Combining footage from the original film with youtube clips, archival footage, hacked text messages and video games, Brewer reimagines “Remember the Daze” as a film about money laundering. In Jessica Manafort, Brewer examines the ways that Hollywood narrative, production values and beautiful actresses cover up the underlying economic realities that govern creative expression. The teen coming-of-age story is rewritten to reveal the financial transaction at its heart: the transfer of money from father to daughter. 

This video is the first in a series of works that explore the relationship between the Manafort family, Hollywood film, money laundering and the name Jessica.  

* Jessica Manafort recently changed her name to Jessica Anne Bond. See, “Paul Manafort’s daughter gets a new name,” Kathianne Boniello, New York Post, September 1st, 2018. 

** “The Plot Against America,” Franklin Foer, The Atlantic, March 2018. 

Maura Brewer was a Whitney Independent Study Program fellow from 2014-2015, and received her MFA from the University of California, Irvine in 2011. Her work has been exhibited internationally, at venues including MUMOK in Vienna, Centre d'Art Contemporain Genève, the MCA in Chicago, MoMA and Art in General in New York. She is a 2017 California Community Foundation Fellow, and a 2016 and 2018 Creative Economic Development Fund Grantee. Her work has been written about in the Guardian, New York Magazine, the Huffington Post and the Paris Review. She lives and works in Los Angeles.