New documentary explores the works of the late artist Vernon Fisher of Fort Worth

The late Vernon Fisher could have practiced anywhere.

But the internationally acclaimed artist, who died earlier this year, chose to live and work in his hometown of Fort Worth.

“Breaking The Code,” a new documentary about Fisher directed by Michael Flanagan, seeks to tell his story. Audiences have a chance to see it at a free screening at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 2, at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. It is a collaboration with the museum, Lone Star Film Festival and Fort Worth Film Commission.

Fisher was among the country’s most accomplished artists. Known for placing national pop symbols such as Mickey Mouse alongside a Dairy Queen or grocery store and using text to tell sometimes dark stories. It was at once funny, brooding and deeply appealed to the viewer’s emotions.

By the time he joined the faculty of the University of North Texas in 1977, he had shown at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C., the Guggenheim Museum, and the Whitney Biennial in New York. He received a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in 1995 and was a three-time recipient of National Endowment for the Arts fellowship. He is in more than 80 collections.

When he retired from UNT, he was bestowed with the university’s highest honor as a regents professor. He influenced young artists, curators, and gallerists.

Yet as the late renowned expert of contemporary art and retired TCU faculty member Francis Colpitt bluntly said in the movie, “What’s unusual in Vernon’s career is he was able to do it all in Fort Worth.”

He was proof that not all art is made in New York City, nor did it need to be, said Michael Auping, the retired chief curator at the Modern. Fisher was on his radar since the mid 1970s, long before Auping joined the museum. He organized “Vernon Fisher: K-Mart Conceptualism,” Fisher’s only retrospective, in 2010.

Auping was a confidante and huge fan. He speaks passionately about the late abstract artist who worked with painting, texts and objects. “He was a great artist and a great person. His advice and thoughts have been invaluable to me and many others over the years, and his works are treasures of our permanent collection at the Modern,” Auping previously told the Star-Telegram.

The movie premiered earlier year and has been a hit on the festival circuit and snagging a few awards, including Best Historical Film at the Dallas International Film Festival and Best Documentary from the Rockport Film Festival.

All that time Flanagan was itching for a screening at the Modern, where a portion of the documentary was filmed. It was also his artistic home outside of his small studio on North Main Street.

“It was home court for Vernon,” he said.

The title “Breaking the Code” refers to a series of paintings loosely related to the theme of breaking the code. But one painting, “Breaking the Code” from the early 1980s, struck Flanagan. On the canvas are three stories of people trying to figure out an indecipherable code. In one scene, a boy is hunting for Easter eggs but looking in the most complicated places even though the adults hid them in the most obvious places; in another a wife suspects her husband of cheating and sets out to catch him by matching the radio signals with places; then above, a black bomber is painted on the ceiling and hovers below.

Writing in Artforum, critic David Dillon called it “one of his most ambitious and accessible works.”

“The film is trying to is investigate his meaning and his artwork, who he is and asking, ‘How do we break the code of the artwork?’” Flanagan said.

He said he’s aware no documentary, nor even an eight part series, could illuminate this complex artist with a full 80- year life and huge body of work. “I’m not trying to break the code on what it means to be an artist. That’s impossible. I’m just trying to open the door and provide research for the audience,” he said.

Following the movie, Auping will moderate a discussion with Flanagan. Fort Worth artists Sedrick Huckaby and Linda Ridgway will host a question and answer session.