He didn't own a refrigerator, worshipped B-movie goddess Maria Montez, and believed museums should stay open 24 hours a day. Performance art pioneer Jack Smith, the very definition of avant-garde, has been yanked back from the brink of obscurity by Mary Jordan's colorful documentary. Best known for his banned camp extravaganza "Flaming Creatures," Smith was an underground trailblazer who inspired Andy Warhol and his fellow Factory workers, though he never pimped out his work as they did. "I fell in love when I first saw Jack's photographs - such aesthetic mastery and unlike anything I'd ever seen," says Jordan. "The further I researched, the more I realized how Smith influenced so many giants in today's art world. Even though they reflected him in their work, lots of them didn't even know about Smith . . . who created many, many ripples that we still see today." 6:15 p.m. $9, $8 seniors, students. Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Ave., Boston. 617-369-3687. mfa.org/film![]()
FILM
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.


