Three new exhibitions at The Andy Warhol Museum connect with the community at large, but with a Warholian twist only that museum could muster, says museum director Tom Sokolowski.
"We're very much engaged in what the community is doing," he says, "but with our exhibitions, we always try to put our own spin on it."
For example:
• "Contemporary Prints from The Bank of New York Mellon Collection" is a contemporary response to the antique prints and watercolors from the same collection on view at the Carnegie Museum of Art -- "Great British Art: 200 Years of Watercolors, Drawings, and Prints from The Bank of New York Mellon Collection."
• "Ceramic Explosion: The Work of Martin Klimas" is the Warhol's response to the recent 2008 National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts conference held here last weekend.
• And "Neke Carson: Eyeball Portraits and Beyond" is an exhibition of portraiture that has at its core an infamous portrait of one of Pittsburgh's most famous native sons, Andy Warhol.
"Contemporary Prints from The Bank of New York Mellon Collection" features 83 works from some of the most important contemporary artists of the last half of the 20th century, which altogether offers a diverse view of techniques including silk screening, color etchings, woodcuts, aquatint, engravings, linocuts and photogravures.
Drawn from the rich historic and cultural legacies of two of the world's most venerable financial institutions, the collection encompasses important works of art in a variety of media, from the 18th to 21st centuries.
The collection is particularly strong in the area of prints, and much of the material is contemporary. Many of the prints in this exhibition are minimalist in nature, with the work of Donald Judd being well represented. Several prints by minimalist conceptual artist Sol Lewitt are also included. Those are of special note because they were created around the same time as the Lewitt mural that graces the main staircase in the Carnegie Museum of Art, commissioned in the mid-1980s.
A real standout is the work of Frank Stella. Four prints from his "Had Gadya" series (1982-84), which totals 12 and took him two years to complete, they are not only notable because of their large size, but because each one is hand-colored and collaged with lithographic, linoleum block and rubber relief printings.
Like many of the artists in this exhibition, Stella created art in reaction to the Abstract Expressionist movement. In the 1950s and '60s, Stella became one of the most well known minimalist painters. He was completely unconcerned with illusory painting and wanted nothing more than to create a flat surface with paint on it.
The prints in this exhibition are part of a larger series done much later in his career. The inspiration for this series was El Lissitzky's illustrations for the Jewish folk song "Had Gadya" (1919), which traditionally follows the Seder, beginning the Jewish Passover.
Sokolowski says printmaking sits at the very core of Warhol's art.
"Warhol is quintessentially a printer," he says. "Even his paintings are print produced."
True enough, like many artists before him, Warhol realized the potential that the popular print could have in a world that fully embraced all of the elements of the society in which he lived. Prints that could be produced efficiently and reasonably cheaply could find their way onto the walls of the burgeoning middle classes.
By the middle years of the 20th century, artists would increase the level of printmaking to a degree of sophistication that finally would place the medium on par with painting and sculpture. As Sokolowski says, Warhol's work bridges a gap between painting and printmaking. This exhibition is a perfect fit.
"Ceramic Explosion: The Work of Martin Klimas" is a relatively tiny exhibition compared to the many others on display last weekend in conjunction with the 2008 National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts conference. But this exhibit at The Andy Warhol Museum was one that got a lot of attention.
German photographer Martin Klimas' remarkable images, of which there are only 10 on display here, combine up-to-date photographic technology with one of the most traditional of all art forms, the ceramic figure.
Klimas' work features porcelain figures as they burst into shards after being dropped in the photographer's studio. Taken at the moment of impact with the ground, the image Klimas' photographic technique captures the figure as it transforms into a new object.
Klimas uses no photographic manipulation to create these images focused on a moment in time. The artist drops a figurine, from a predetermined height, in complete darkness while the lens of the camera is open. The sound of the figurine hitting the ground triggers strobe lights that flash for a fraction of a second.
Museum director Tom Sokolowski says the act of catching the exploding figurines at this moment of impact transforms them from mere "dustcatchers" to something more magnificent.
"Each of the figures, while literally coming apart at the seams, is imbued with a ferocious energy rarely associated with the field of decorative arts," he says.
Finally, "Neke Carson: Eyeball Portraits and Beyond" is a two-part exhibition that highlights the portrait work of American Dadaist Neke Carson.
For years, and using a variety of techniques, Carson has created portraits of some of his favorite people and characters, such as Andy Warhol, Desi Arnaz and Fred Flintstone.
In 2007, he began a series of eyeball portraits with just the eyes as the focal point of the sitting. Color and other elements began to creep into the digital photographs and soon he moved well beyond his original premise. His 12 large-scale photographs on display here showcase the results.
In addition, the second part of the exhibition gathers together, for the first time, material chronicling the creation of Carson's 1972 painting "Portrait of Andy Warhol," which is infamous for the fact that Carson painted it from life with a brush that was stuck in his bottom.
Complimenting the portrait are several of Warhol's Polaroids -- which he later compiled into his Red Book no.129 -- and the video diary shot during the session at the Factory in which Carson created this most unusual painting.
The painting was stolen in 1979, but eventually recovered and since then Carson has kept it under lock and key. This is the first time in more than 28 years that it has been shown publicly.
Additional Information:
On show
⢠'Contemporary Prints from The Bank of New York Mellon Collection'
⢠'Ceramic Explosion: The Work of Martin Klimas'
• 'Neke Carson: Eyeball Portraits and Beyond'
Additional Information:
Details
When: Through June 1. Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays; until 10 p.m. Fridays.
Admission: $15; $9 for senior citizens; $8 for children and students. Fridays half price.
Where: The Andy Warhol Museum , 117 Sandusky St., North Side
Details: 412-237-8300.
