Warhol.

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Andy Warhol: PortraitsMay 26-August 19, 2012

“If you want to know all about Andy Warhol, just look at the surface of my paintings and films and me, and there I am. There’s nothing behind it.”

-Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol may be the single most famous artist of the 20th Century. He first gained recognition as a “Pop” artist. Beginning in the 1950s, the Pop art movement emerged in Great Britain. Pop Art incorporated common images found in popular culture, like advertising or comic books, into fine art. As the movement took hold in the United States in the early 1960s, Warhol rode the crest of Pop’s momentum and made it his own. His paintings and screen prints of Campbell’s Soup Cans and Coca-Cola bottles have become iconic in their own right.

As his reputation as an artist grew, Warhol quickly expanded his art practice

beyond works on paper and canvas. His diverse interests allowed him to spread Pop’s influence into other spheres beyond the gallery space and museum walls. He made films, wrote books, published magazines, collected art and antiques, and produced both theater and musical acts. It is with this broad approach to art making that Warhol set a precedent for art practices that have become commonplace in the 21st century.

Throughout his evolution as an artist, Warhol consistently made portraits, and worked with over 1,100 sitters during his career. In hindsight, creating portraits served several purposes for the artist. For instance, many of the works were commissioned, which provided a principal and consistent source of income. They were the means by which Warhol was able to develop the signature style

Andy Warhol, “Self Portrait,” 1978. Collection of The Warhol Museum. ©2012 The Andy Warhol Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

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for which he is still known today. The portraits also allowed him to explore a theme, which was an obsession from an early age: Fame and celebrity.

When he was six years old Warhol contracted scarlet fever, which later developed into a disease called chorea, also known as St. Vitus’ Dance. Chorea forced him to spend long hours resting in bed. To relieve his boredom, his mother, Julia Warhola, would supply him with paper dolls, comic books and movie magazines. Young Warhol would spend hours staring at the pictures of famous movie stars imagining that fame for himself. As an adult, he pursued and captured the images of the beautiful and celebrated with his Polaroid Big Shot. Starting in the 1970s the camera accompanied him wherever he went, photographing both the famous and not-so-famous faces that crossed his path.

The identities of many of the people in the portraits presented at MOCA may not be easily recognizable to the contemporary viewer. However, they represent the personalities that shaped popular culture itself, both within the times they lived and today. Warhol had a reputation for having a cool, detached demeanor and pronounced lack of emotional response. Yet he was able to make acquaintance with scores of famous people within the course of his career. In essence, he created popular culture imagery from the faces of those creating popular culture through their own personalities and professions. The leading artists, entertainers, politicians, fashion models and international socialites of the day were creative fodder for Warhol.

Warhol had a very specific process for creating his famous screen prints. He would photograph the sitter with a Polaroid. The image may have been taken while he was at a party or in another social setting. But, if it were commissioned, the client sat for a photo at Warhol’s studio or perhaps the privacy of a hotel room. A chosen photo would then be transferred onto a silkscreen. Warhol traced an outline of the portrait onto a canvas and filled in the shapes with color. Once the canvas was dry, the photographic image was then silkscreened on top, either by the artist or his assistants. Warhol would then

Andy Warhol, “Natalie Sparber,” 1984. Collection of The Warhol Museum. ©2012 The Andy Warhol Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

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retouch and add lines and color over the top of the silkscreen.

Also included within this exhibition are several self-portraits of the artist. Warhol never failed to document himself. By making self-portraits, the artist cemented his own likeness into the iconography of fame and celebrity that he created with his other works. If we are to believe that the true Andy Warhol can be found in the surface of his paintings, then we begin to understand why popular culture resonated so well with him. The company he kept and the art he made might be viewed as the many facets of his personality. He was an artist, businessman, celebrity, son, brother and friend. When he created a portrait, he turned these aspects of his sitters and himself, into a beautiful glossy package. Warhol understood the importance of celebrity and its role as a commodity in society. Decades before social media and reality television settled into mainstream culture, a Warhol portrait was both a product and a symbol of fame. As time diminishes our collective memory of the people that are featured in this exhibition, Andy Warhol’s portraits of them remain. If no single image can allow us to understand the artist, perhaps a gallery full of them might.

-Heather Hakimzadehassociate curator

This exhibition has been organized by The Andy Warhol

Museum, one of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh.

Special Thanks to:

Andy Warhol, “Self-Portrait (Being Punched),” 1963-1964. Collection of The Warhol Museum. ©2012 The Andy Warhol Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

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i Like soup“I just paint things I always thought were beautiful, things you use every day and never think about. I’m working on soups, and I’ve been doing some paintings of money. I just do it because I like it.”

-Andy Warhol

The original Andy Warhol Campbell’s Soup Can paintings were shown for the fi rst time at the Ferrus Gallery, Los Angeles in 1962. They had an immediate impact on the artist’s life and career and may be the work for which is he most often remembered. Warhol’s reasons for painting the Campbell’s Soup Cans changed every time he was asked about them. Regardless of the reasons for their creations, Warhol’s humble soup cans helped to pave the way for the art practices of contemporary artists today.

As MOCA and the Hampton Roads community celebrates the “Andy Warhol: Portraits” exhibition, we wanted to take a moment to explore Warhol’s idea of a tin soup can and the many ways in which popular culture infl uences artists today. A plain, unused tin can was given to a selection of contemporary artists. They were asked to reinterpret the can and use it in the creation of their own art.

Each original can is for sale on MOCA’s website. The proceeds from the sales will help benefi t MOCA’s educational programs and the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia. With your help we can provide nourishment for the heads, hearts and stomachs of the people in our community.

- Heather Hakimzadeh, associate curator and Jason Levesque, guest curator

FEATurInG: Lauren Albert

Glenn Arthur

Monée Bengtson

Eric Thomas Bostrom

Heather Bryant

Diana Caramat

Kris Chau

Nomi Chi

Luke Chueh

Doug Clarke

davmo

Dominique Fung

Susie Ghahremani

Christine Harris

Charlie Immer

JoKa

Sarah Joncas

Ewelina Koszykowski

kozyndan

Elizabeth Levesque

Jason Levesque

Jason Limon

Jim Mahfood

Dan May

Soey Milk

Buddy Nestor

Raymond Nordwall

Charmaine Olivia

Amanda Outcalt

Conrad Roset

Alan Skees

Kristen Skees

Sayaka Suzuki

Eveline Tarunadjaja

Casey Weldon

Chet Zar

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RAshidi BARRettThe worlds of music and art intersect in this exhibition by Rashidi Barrett. This Norfolk-based visual artist, beatmaker, DJ, and instrumentalist has built his career at the nexus of visual art, music and performance. For Barrett, “music is both a medium used to create and an integral tool” in his paintings. For this exhibition, the artist has created paintings and music that should be experienced together.

Barrett follows an extensive lineage of artists who straddle the worlds of art and music. Long before the days of turntables, synthesizers, computers and iPods, artists such as Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) believed that listening to music offered a new approach to painting. Music could inspire more spontaneous color, rhythm and space. Since then, the influence of

music on contemporary art practices has become more prevalent and it is not unusual for artists to work, experiment or collaborate in both genres. In turn, the visual arts influence music, with custom visuals, album covers and music videos. They have become an equally important presentation for many musicians.

On display is a selection of Blue Note Records album covers from Barrett’s extensive vinyl record collection. This collection is prominently displayed in the artist’s home and the graphic design, use of striking typefaces, photographic images and bold use of color both inspire and inform his paintings. Kenny Burrell’s “1543” (released in 1956), “Blue Lights” (released in 1958) and Johnny Griffin’s “The Congregation” (released in 1957) feature cover art by an up-and-coming artist at the time, Andy Warhol.

If you would like to know more about Rashidi Barrett (a.k.a DJ Cornbread) please visit the following websites: www.rashidibarrett.com or http://djcornbread.podomatic.com.

- Alison Byrne, director of exhibitions & education

Rashidi Barrett in his studio.

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15 squARe inches of fAme“In the future everybody will be world famous for fifteen minutes.”

-Andy Warhol

In celebration of “Andy Warhol: Portraits,” MOCA invited artists of all ages living in Hampton Roads to participate in “15 Square Inches of Fame.” This open exhibition is the community’s artistic response to the life and work of Andy Warhol. Throughout his career, Warhol portrayed celebrities, friends, family, and public figures alike in his signature style, revolutionizing the conversations we have about art and American popular culture. This is a special opportunity for Hampton Roads visual artists to show how Warhol has influenced them, and exhibit their work at MOCA alongside the artist himself. Artists were asked to submit one original portrait to the exhibition; all visual mediums were welcomed as long as the piece measured no more than 15 x 15 inches. MOCA would like to thank all of the artists who submitted works to this exhibition. To learn more about the artists in this exhibition and see video interviews, visit www.VirginiaMOCA.org.

MOCA AudIO TOursMOCA’s new audio tours feature two unique experiences to enhance your visit to the museum. Listen to MOCA’s adult tour for more in-depth information about Andy Warhol, specific artworks in the exhibition and MOCA’s ancillary exhibitions, “I Like Soup” and “Rashidi Barrett.” Special thanks to narrator Anthony McSpadden of WHRO.

The second audio tour option is one created for teens, by teens. Produced by MOCA’s 2012 Teen Apprenticeship Program (TAP) this audio tour guarantees to keep both teens and adults interested, engaged and entertained in the galleries. MOCA’s TAP students are Allison Lee, Jessica Bub, Jack Miller, Jarred Tallon, Brianna Costa, Stephanie Stewart, Emma Willis, DJ Wang, Elizabeth Ma, Maggie Quitter, Alex Venezia, Lindsay Ingram, Ke’Andre Davidson and Colin Young. Check out an iPod at the Museum Welcome Desk or download the podcast onto your own device. Visit VirginiaMOCA.org for details.

Special thanks to Paige Fulton for her assistance in creating the audio tours and for her extensive

research for the exhibitions.

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ThAnks:Elizabeth LevesqueAdam W. ParkerJason LevesquePride of Place LLCDoran ConsultingCity of Virginia Beach MaintenanceTrue Colors ScreenprintingNorfolk Donut Supply Co.

The Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art is funded in part by the citizens of Virginia Beach through a grant from the City of Virginia Beach Arts & Humanities Commission, and by the Virginia Commission for the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, Business Consortium for Arts Support and Hampton Roads Community Foundation.

Bill and Uschi Butler

Tom/Rebecca Robinson

Mary Anne Kellam-Canada

Manny and Nancy Arias

Ina Levy

Bay Mechanical

Bob and Terri McKenzie

Macon and Joan Brock

Waypoint Advisors

Adams Outdoor Advertising

Galumbeck Plastic Surgery

The Lee Cohen Family

Barbara Fleming

PAPCO

Bill and Meg Campbell

Steve and Maggie Test

Waitzer Properties

Lee A./Helen G. Gifford Fund of the Hampton Roads

Community Foundation

Audi Virginia BeachPart of the Checkered Flag Family

ThAnks TO Our WArhOl spOnsOrs:

2200 Parks Ave | Virginia Beachwww.VirginiaMOCA.org | 757.425.0000

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