Ray Johnson: Odd, quirky and on film in Asheville

John Walter and Andrew Moore’s award-winning documentary, “How to Draw a Bunny,” tells the story of collage artist Ray Johnson, whose death was cloaked in mystery and whose life and art remain enigmatic.

As one of the seminal figures in the Pop Art era, Johnson is known as the founding father of mail art and as an excellent and influential collage artist. The Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center is presenting the exhibition “Something Else Entirely: Ray Johnson, Dick Higgins + the making of The Paper Snake” through Aug. 22.

“How to Draw a Bunny,” a 90-minute feature film on the artist Ray Johnson, was awarded a Special Jury prize at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival and the Grand Prix du Public 2002 at the Rencontres Internationales de Cinema in Paris. The film was also nominated for a 2003 Independent Spirit Award.

The film explores the fascinating, often hilarious, and always enigmatic world of artist and underground icon Ray Johnson. It is framed by Johnson’s mysterious suicide on Friday, Jan. 13, 1995.

Hop to it

What: “How to Draw a Bunny” showing

When: 7:30 p.m. Aug. 20

Where: Black Mountain College Museum+Art Center, Asheville

Cost: $8 general, $5 members and students