Video by Kaly Nasiff
Before we had social media and reality television to keep up with our favorite celebrities, there was Andy Warhol. Starting March 4, some of Warhol’s most colorful and iconic celebrity portraits will be showcased in the Andy Warhol: Portraits exhibit at the Phoenix Art Museum.
More than 170 objects are on display ranging from screen print paintings to videos from Warhol’s student work in the 1940s to his final years in the 1980s. But when you first enter the exhibit you come face to face with Warhol himself. In a huge self-portrait, Warhol dons a large, spiky wig and stares straight at you.
Jerry Smith, curator of American and European art to 1950 and art of the American West at the Phoenix Art Museum, said Warhol “brought back the idea of the society portrait.”
“It was a form of self promotion,” Smith said. “That was one thing that Warhol understood. He understood celebrity and the idea of branding. So we’re seeing the brand that stands in for the person. He did that for himself as well.”
Other celebrities featured in the exhibit are Queen Victoria II, Marilyn Monroe and Jackie Kennedy. There are also Polaroids of Warhol and some of his friends, both those who went on to lasting fame and those whose stars dimmed much faster.
“I think at the core of pop culture there is a real fascination with famous people,” said Christian Adame, associate curator for education. “The definition of famous changed but I think he really set a precedent for exploring that idea and it’s definitely still around.”
Visitors can also see some of Warhol’s early drawings from art school, which are very sparse compared to his pop art portraits. There are display cases filled with Warhol collectibles, including a 1986 Nieman Marcus Christmas catalog where buyers could pay to have Warhol paint a portrait of them.
Warhol’s “Silver Clouds” bring visitors back to the childlike feeling of playing with balloons. The helium and air filled metalized balloons are enclosed so patrons can stop in and bat them around a small room.
The museum will also screen some of Warhol’s films throughout the exhibit’s run. One of his films, “Lonesome Cowboys,” was filmed in Tucson. Another, entitled “Sleep,” is five hours of Warhol’s friend John Giorno sleeping. Clips from Warhol’s short-lived MTV show “15 Minutes” will be playing in the exhibit as well.
Warhol often put his friends in front of the camera for screen tests. They would sit in front of a camera for a few minutes and then he would slow the footage down so they looked like living portraits. You too can have the very awkward experience of staring at a video camera for two minutes. Then the museum will email you a slowed down copy, which you can post on social media.
The museum’s Sybil Harrington director Amanda Cruz thinks that Warhol would have loved the idea of selfies and social media.
“Andy Warhol was extremely influential,” she said. “We’re kind of still living in an Andy Warhol moment. He was obsessed with fame and celebrity and so are we. He took a lot of images of himself and all his friends, so this idea of taking a snapshot of yourself, selfies, I think he would have been all over it. The whole social media phenomenon is sort of an Andy Warhol moment.”
To kick off the exhibit, the museum will be hosting a free Exploding Plastic Inevitable party on March 6 from 6-10 pm. The idea is to bring a Warhol-themed party to First Friday with local artists, musicians and businesses milling around with models dressed in 1960s fashion. The exhibit will be discounted to $2, the price Warhol charged for all his parties.
While the museum does ask for you to refrain from taking still photos of the art, they have made a designated selfie wall for all of your Instagram needs. Just make sure you take your shot before the exhibit closes June 21.
Contact the reporter and videographer at knasiff@asu.edu
