Forty years after his death, artist Philip Guston caused an uproar in politically correct America: Four museums canceled a retrospective show of his work for fear of protests by Black Lives Matter activists. Guston was Jewish and actively opposed racial discrimination in the United States, and in the 1960s he created a series of paintings featuring hooded Ku Klux Klan caricatures. This was enough to prevent them from being exhibited in the U.S. in 2020, shortly after the murder of George Floyd by a white police officer and the mass protests that erupted following that incident.

The film follows Guston’s rich career and his witty, lively, and sometimes absurd art, which was way ahead of its time. Guston’s 50-year artistic practice incorporated different styles and confronted manifestations of evil and extremist movements in American society. His daughter, friends, and colleagues (including cartoonist and graphic novelist Art Spiegelman) are all interviewed in the film.

Opening lecture: Noa Rosenberg, Curator of Modern Art, Tel Aviv Museum of Art.