The Projectionist

Installation, Book and Film

Imagine a fully operational movie palace created over the course of more than forty years by an outsider artist who worked as a projectionist.  Hidden from view in the basement of its creator until 2007, this is the The Shalimar Theater and the remarkable story of Gordon Brinckle, the man who built it.

Go

Go

Photographs, Mixed Media and Film

A non-traditional approach to documenting the personal histories of the people of the tiny village of Corapeake, North Carolina, reaching across boundaries of time, space, motion and stillness to echo and explore the act of remembering.

Corapeake

Go

Photographs, Mixed Media and Film

A non-traditional approach to documenting the personal histories of the people of the tiny village of Corapeake, North Carolina, reaching across boundaries of time, space, motion and stillness to echo and explore the act of remembering.

Impermanence

"Kendall Messick's ‘Corapeake’ is one of the best portraits of American small town life I've seen in years. Focusing on the now-elderly, African American townspeople of Corapeake, North Carolina and their treasure trove of memories, it's a human chronicle of great sympathy, warmth and insight, photographed and edited with seemingly effortless artistry."

- Michael Wilmington, Film Critic for the Chicago Tribune