Poignant news. In my memoir-in-progress, I remember Peter rehearsing with 
Single Wing at Sam Francis’ studio On Ashland Street in Ocean Park, using his 
hands as projection masks. And being on the mezzanine with him for Single 
Wing's spectacular shows for Pinnacle concerts at Shrine Exposition Hall. We 
hung out at Pinnacle after-parties at the "White House" where John Van 
Hammersveld and other Pinnacle people lived, and I visited Peter occasionally 
in the Fox Venice projection booth. This tall, lanky, dark-haired, likable guy 
wasn’t as  talkative as some other members of Single Wing, but I beleive his 
quiet dedication to that art form anchored them. I interviewed Peter for my 
1968 article about Single Wing in the Los Angeles Free Press, with a 
double-page color layout of their imagery.

Gene & Jane Youngblood
(505) 395-6370 home

On March 4, 2019 at 7:02:00 PM, Adam Hyman (a...@lafilmforum.org) wrote:

Greetings.  Los Angeles based filmmaker, painter, projectionist, and filmgoer 
Peter Mays passed away last night.  Peter was one of the longest members of the 
experimental film community in LA, going back to when he started a film society 
in the UCLA Art Department in 1962 to screen underground films that he had read 
about.  He made multiple film & video works over the years, was a founding 
member of the  of the Single Wing Turquoise Bird Light Show and the one 
continuing member in all of its iterations, and also served as projectionist at 
the Fox Venice and at CAA to make ends meet.  In later years, he was often 
painting at home in Santa Monica.

Filmforum had a screening with him in 2010, and showed his films at different 
time through the years, and as part of Alternative Projections.  His most 
well-known work, “Death of the Gorilla” is really wonderful, and was also 
featured on the cover of the book Art Cinema, by Paul Young, for Taschen Press. 
 We’ll be doing two screenings this month honoring him, shows that were already 
being planned, and were hoping that he might have been in condition to attend.  
Although that didn’t happen, I hope that you all will be able to come to at 
least one, and that those of you who knew him might say a few words.  Here’s 
more on him at Alternative Projections, and an oral history.
https://www.alternativeprojections.com/people/peter-mays/
https://www.alternativeprojections.com/oral-histories/peter-mays/

And his Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/petermays22
Two of his films have been restored by Mark Toscano at the Academy Film 
Archive, Death of the Gorilla and The Star-Curtain Tantra.  Those will be part 
of the first of two screenings we will have at Filmforum honoring Peter Mays, 
on March 17 and 31, 2019.

We’ll miss him.

Very truly yours,

Adam

--
Adam Hyman
Los Angeles Filmforum
a...@lafilmforum.org
http://www.lafilmforum.org



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