Art curator for Hollywood blockbusters talks copyright, creation and destruction
Fanny Pereire, who adds exposition to a film through her choice of art, has worked on Wall Street 2, Trainwreck and the upcoming Ocean’s 8
Character study When strangers ask me what I do, I tell them I create art collections for people who don’t exist. Basically, I choose art for films or television to explain who the characters are and what’s happening to them.
For instance, in Changing Lanes (2002), with Ben Affleck and Samuel L. Jackson, much of the film takes place in a law firm, so a way to differentiate each character is by the art in their offices. At one point, Ben Affleck’s character is debating if he should escape the rat race. On his wall, I hung a long landscape by Alex Katz of a man walking on a beach, and the director shot Affleck on the sofa below it. It told you what’s going on in his head.
Tracking shot I’ve worked on quite a few films, including Wall Street 2 (2010), Revolutionary Road (2008), The Girl on the Train (2016), The Intern (2015), Trainwreck (2015) and Ocean’s 8 [opening here in June]. In Ocean’s 8, the boyfriend of Sandra Bullock’s character is an art dealer and I did the collection in his New York loft.
For television, I worked on the Billions pilot, Divorce and, more recently, a Scott Rudin-produced pilot called Compliance. I always discuss the choices with the production designer. I suggest artists – for Compliance we had William Kentridge, Gabriel Orozco, Luc Tuymans – and then I’ll make a selection of their artworks.