Andy Warhol's Quick Pix and Pop Icons
April 11 - June 20, 2010 at the Hearst Art Gallery
Click here to view images from this exhibit.
ANDY WARHOL ARRIVES AT THE HEARST ART GALLERY
CONTRA COSTA TIMES ARTICLE:St. Mary's gallery 'unveils' Warhol photos - By Robert Taylor
Major works on loan include iconic photosilkscreens, mixed media works, and sculpture from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, teh San Jose Museum of Art, and major private collections. Highlights include Jackie, Marilyn, Mick, The Annunciation, Flowers, Electric Chair and Tomato Soup Can.
"Pop Stars" is on view in the Keith Room, featuring drawings, paintings, and prints by other major American Pop Artists, many from the "Eleven Pop Artists" series, include works by Jim Dine, Mel Ramos, Robert Lichtenstein, and Tom Wesselmann.
"Screen Tests: Saint Mary's Most Beautiful" Saint Mary's College students have been invited to be a part of the exhibition. A flipvideo, computer and monitor allows students to create and exhibit their own video portraits, inspired by Warhol's screentests. A study table includes a wide range of Warhol biographies, articles and ephemera.
Special thanks to film professor Dan Leapard, his students, and the Media Services Department for making the installation possible.
FOUR ANDY WARHOL PHOTOGRAPHS
 Yves Saint LaurenYves Saint Lauren |
 Dolly PartonDolly Parton |
 Dorothy Hammill Dorothy Hammill |
 Denise HaleDenise Hale |
"Pop Stars" IN THE KEITH ROOM
Andy Warhol did not spring fully grown, like Athena from the head of Zeus. There was a whole generation of artists who, partially in response to the high seriousness and spiritual gravity of Abstract Expressionism, turned outward rather than inward to make their art. They turned to the culture all around them, popular culture (Pop), the advertisements, comic books, homely soup cans, and dollar bills, and decided to examine those to see what they might mean, what they might yield, what art could be made out of images that were then considered low brow. They were drawn to the excitement and verve of American pop culture. It’s hard to imagine how daring a strategy was when it is now commonplace to speak of art and commercials in the same breath. These artists were along with cultural critics, like Susan Sontag and the film critic Pauline Kael, were trying to get us to notice that our culture (the one where most of us lived, with its movies, magazines, and billboards) wanted us to see the absurdity, beauty, and even the profundity that might be embedded in that culture. The little samples drawn from severa include collections by: Dr. Robert Shimshak, Marion Brenner, and Mel Ramos. Ramos, being a great artist of the era, gives you an idea of how Warhol was similar in strategy, but unique in style and temperment.
Opening day events:
A panel discussion, Sunday, April 11, 2 pm, Soda Activity Center, free admission, with Wesley Gibson, professor, guest curator and exhibition essayist, and Dan Leopard, film professor, SMC Warhol film course professor, moderated by art writer and critic Robert Taylor.
Lecture:
Wednesday, April 14, 7 pm, Soda Center, "Warhol the Filmmaker" by David E. James, author and professor, School of Cinematic Arts, USC, free admission.
Where: Hearst Art Gallery, Saint Mary's College of California, 1928 St. Mary's Rd., Moraga
For additional information: Call Hearst Art Gallery at 925-631-4379 or contact Heidi Donner at hdonner@stmarys-ca.edu or call at 925.631.4069
Sponsored by the Disney Forum and the Dept. of Communications.