The Other Brother Documentary and Art Exhibition
One is an art world insider. One lived alone in a world of art.
Medium: DVD/NTSC
Category/Genre: Feature Documentary
Date completed: 03/2014
Running Time: 71:00
News:
The Other Brother – News and Links
The Other Brother – Reviews and Comments
Book Available via Blurb
DVD now available for purchase
$20.00Add to cart
Preview of The Other Brother
The Other Brother Documentary and Art Exhibition
The Documentary
“In The Other Brother Kristy Higby has rendered a cinematic miracle, illuminating the extraordinary life of Jesse Flowers–a solitary, mysterious and troubled man who found solace and meaning in little else but his art. When Higby first began this project, Jesse was not much more than a family story, a talented eccentric who spent most of his time holed up in his shack doing his artwork or writing in his journals and who had at one point chased his visiting brother and children away with a loaded shotgun. But after Kristy spent years immersing herself in the thousands of letters, journals and sketchbooks he left behind, and interviewing Jesse’s devoted sisters and his estranged brother Tom Flowers, a successful artist and college professor, another more complex picture of Jesse began to emerge. In The Other Brother Higby weaves together interviews with the sisters, who knew Jesse best, with interviews of Tom Flowers, who hadn’t spoken with him since they were young men. The result is a living portrait of a man who has depth and compassion and who wasn’t without a sense of humor and who also was a very good writer. One of the most wonderful aspects of the film is how Higby pairs drawings and sketches by the two brothers. Jesse’s work feels crowded, humorous and primordial while Tom’s feels much more open, airy and contemporary. Yet by pairing the images Higby sets up a kind of artistic dialogue between the brothers that somehow transcends their decades of estrangement. Toward the end of the film we sense that Tom, looking through family photographs and Jesse’s sketchbooks, gets to know his brother in a way he never knew him in life. And that of course is what happens to us as we watch The Other Brother. By the end of the film, Higby has woven together so many layers of Jesse’s life in such an artful and profound way that ultimately we feel the man is in the room with us, Flesh and Blood.” –Tommy Hays Author of What I Came to Tell You and The Pleasure Was Mine
The Art Exhibition
“The Other Brother: The Art of Jesse and Tom Flowers is an extraordinary exhibition that will linger in the minds of those people lucky enough to experience it. Both the film and exhibition work together to give the viewer a fascinating look into the lives of Tom and Jesse Flowers, whose artwork forms a significant and tender connection between the two estranged brothers. Kristy Higby and Mark Flowers of Mountain Tea Studios in Asheville, North Carolina, have organized what promises to be a beautiful and intriguing exhibition of carefully selected works of art by the Flowers brothers as seen in the film. Off the screen and on the walls, exhibition visitors will have the unique opportunity to see and study these works in person, which is undoubtedly the best way to get a true sense of the art and all of its subtle nuances. Perhaps new observations will be made and shared, inciting an ongoing dialogue about artistic expression and sibling relationships.” -Liz Miller, Curator, Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapman Art Museum, Myrtle Beach, SC