Del Valle Archive Pays Tribute to Cammell and Roeg

The Del Valle Archive and Drkrm. Gallery have created a rare and unseen collection of photographs from two legendary motion pictures from Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg: "Performance" (1970) and "The Man Who Fell To Earth" (1976).

Cammell, who committed suicide in 1996 after an enigmatic and mysterious film career, wrote and co-directed "Performance" with Roeg in the late 1960s.

Considered classics now, both films were met with much public criticism upon their release as many rejected both directors' kaleidoscopic use of montage in addition to their daring juxtaposition of sex and violence.

This art gallery pays tribute to the audacity and peculiarity that each director showed in both films, which feature famous British rock stars between Mick Jagger in "Performance" and David Bowie in "The Man Who Fell To Earth."

The exhibit contains photographs that have yet to be shown in a gallery setting or even seen by the public.

Inside the gallery, guests can see prints of Cecil Beaton's exotic vision of rock icon and Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger taken on the set of "Performance" in 1968.

While six years separated the two films, the images share a intriguing similarity-both effectively depict the collision of alien worlds that casts Jagger and Bowie as odd, androgynous and isolated despite being brilliant misanthropes.

In "The Man Who Fell To Earth," Roeg was particularly known for his use of the cut-up technique, in which he photographs his stories in a disjunctive and piecemeal nature that only makes sense at the film's conclusion. These techniques have influenced and been adopted by recent filmmakers, such as Ridley Scott and Francois Ozon.

Cammell, meanwhile, became a central figure of the swinging '60s social scene in London, which some know as the "Chelsea Set."

But because the Scottish film director's career was so elusive after completing "Performance," he directed only three more feature films. Roeg, on the other hand, continued his film career, directing several more significant motion pictures, including renowned classics "Walkabout" (1971), "Don't Look Now" (1973) and "Bad Timing" (1980).

David Del Valle, owner of the Del Valle Archive, has been recognized nationally as a renowned journalist, columnist, film historian and radio and television commentator.

The Del Valle Archive contains thousands of still photographs and other artwork coming from a variety of horror, fantasy, science fiction and cult movie genres.

Founded by John Matkowsky, Drkrm. Gallery has served as an exhibition space dedicated to display popular cultural images, fine art photography, alternative photography and cutting-edge imagery.

Located at 2121 San Fernando Road in Los Angeles, the gallery is open Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., and is free to the public.