Death of Jonas Mekas, pioneering filmmaker who worked with John Lennon, Yoko Ono, The Velvet Underground and Sonic Youth

The avant-garde filmmaker has also worked with Patti Smith, Andy Warhol and many others

Jonas Mekas, the influential avant-garde filmmaker who worked with many artists and musicians in the 1960s and 1970s, died. He was 96 years old.

The Lithuanian-American filmmaker, whose pioneering work captured the underground art and music scene in New York, has worked with many artists, including John Lennon and Yoko Ono, The Velvet Underground, Andy Warhol, Salvador Dali, Patti Smith and Sonic. Youth.

The death of Mekas was announced earlier tonight (January 23) on his Facebook page. "Jonah died peacefully and early this morning. He was at home with his family. We will miss him very much, but his light shines. "

Mekas filmed the first live performance of Velvet Underground in 1964, his film being the only sequence of their first show. The band also had the habit of rehearsing in Mekas' studio and he would have introduced Lou Reed to Andy Warhol, who then produced their first album.

You can watch the video here:

He also made video portraits of John Lennon and Yoko Ono and filmed their famous "Ben-In for Peace" events.

Yoko Ono and John Lennon

Born in 1922 in Lithuania, Mekas was a refugee who had survived his sending to a Nazi labor camp during the Second World War.

After moving to Brooklyn in 1949, he began making movies soon after becoming friends with many people in New York's arts and music community.

Talk to L & # 39; Observer In 2012, Mekas said, "It's important to know that what I'm doing is not artistic. I am only a filmmaker. I live as I live and do what I do, that is, recognize the moments of my life as I progress. And I do it because I have to do it. The need, not the art, is the real line that you can follow in my life and work. "

Mekas has also set up Cinematographic culture magazine with his brother, an influential publication that appeared from 1954 to 1996. He also became the Village Voice first film critic. Mekas was a pbadionate poet and published more than 20 books of poetry during his lifetime.

Talk to L & # 39; Observer In 2012, Mekas said, "It's important to know that what I'm doing is not artistic. I am only a filmmaker. I live as I live and do what I do, that is, recognize the moments of my life as I progress. And I do it because I have to do it. The need, not the art, is the real line that you can follow in my life and work. "