Lucy Raven uses film, photography, and installation to examine the build-up and collapse of infrastructures and images.
New York, New York—September 11, 2025—Art21 today announced the release of Lucy Raven: Pressure & Release, a new documentary film that captures the artist as she travels to Oregon and California documenting the removal of one of four dams on the Klamath River for Murderers Bar (2025), the final film in Raven’s The Drumfire (2020-2025) series. From a cement plant in Idaho to an explosives testing ground in New Mexico to a dam removal in California, The Drumfire critically reflects on the ideologies and industries that transform and deform the American West.
Directed by Ian Forster, the film premieres online Wednesday, September 17 at 12 pm ET on Art21.org and YouTube.
As the leading independent producer documenting the art of our time, Art21 was established with a mission to expand access to artists and their ideas, meet audiences where they are, and explore the salient connections between artists and their communities. To date, Art21 has created 80+ hours of films documenting over 300 artists across six continents.
Murderers Bar documents the largest dam removal in the history of the United States, the result of decades of effort by the Yurok Tribe, Karuk Tribe, Hoopa Valley Tribe, Klamath Tribes, Modoc Nation, and Shasta Indian Nation. Using helicopters, drones, underwater cameras, and animated sequences, Raven visualizes how the build-up and release of pressure transform both land and life.
“It wasn’t just dirt that was released,” says Raven. “It was actually a hundred years of this industrial exploitation of that region.”
“One of the most exciting aspects of working on this film was being out in the field with Lucy along the Klamath River, and witnessing how thoughtfully she approached filming in the region,” says Ian Forster, director and Art21 senior producer. “The story of the dam being removed was decades in the making, and led by activism from local tribes whose lives are intertwined with the river and its ecology. Lucy spent years building the relationships that allowed her to film the actual release moment, while being careful not to speak on behalf of their efforts, but rather from her position as an artist, a visitor, and a guest.”
For an advance screening or to learn more, email Art21 Associate Director of Communications, Hannah DeGarmo, at hannah@art21.org.
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Art21’s Extended Play digital series provides unmediated, behind-the-scenes access to today’s leading artists. Through process-revealing footage and intimate interviews, these curatorially driven films chronicle a diverse scale of international projects, ranging from major commissions to exploratory sketches. Produced in close collaboration with artists, Extended Play uncovers provocative ideas, timely cultural influences, and biographical anecdotes that inspire the artists featured throughout the series.
Extended Play is made possible with support from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, the Every Page Foundation, and the Henry Nias Foundation.
About Art21
Art21 documents the art of our time through the words and works of the most impactful artists working today. Operating at the nexus of contemporary art and film, Art21 produces intimate portraits of artists at crucial moments of creation, inviting audiences to see the world from an artist’s perspective. From its award-winning public television series to in-person public programs, education initiatives, and film screenings, to broadcasting documentary films free, online, and across social media platforms, the independent nonprofit is dedicated to meeting audiences where they are and to making contemporary art accessible to all. For more information, visit Art21.org.
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Media Contacts
Hannah DeGarmo
Associate Director of Communications
hannah@art21.org
Francesca Kielb/Emma Frohardt/Annie Poole
Resnicow and Associates
art21@resnicow.com
734-548-0412 / 212-671-5157 / 212-671-5183
