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In Zagreb, Croatia, people burn candles for those who
died in the terrorist attack on the United States.
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Warhol on the road
The Andy Warhol exhibition in Zagreb, Croatia,
becomes a Symbol of America
During
the terrorist attack on the United States in September, director Thomas Sokolowski was in Zagreb, Croatia, and reported the following:
"The
Andy Warhol Museum has been a catalyst for local sympathy for America's losses. People are leaving flowers and lit
candles in front of the Art Pavilion and are leaving messages of condolence
for the citizens of the United States. I have
appeared many, many times on Croatian television talking about our nation
and offering thanks to all for the thoughts and the prayers of our friends
here. Crowds are visiting the exhibitions as a show of solidarity and old
soldiers have come up to embrace me as a representative of America. It has
all been quite moving and exhausting.
One man told me that this exhibitions shows that 'the greatness of America will always shine across the world.' Such
nobility, when far from home, brings tears to my eyes."
In every country, record-breaking
crowds show up
Fifteen
years after his death, and nearly 50 years since his first solo exhibition
in New York, Andy Warhol still draws crowds wherever he goes, thanks to Andy Warhol and The Prints of Andy Warhol (From A to B and Back Again). These two widely traveled exhibitions
were organized by The Andy Warhol Museum, and the national and
international demand for them is proof that Warhol was not only a mirror of
his own time, but also a looking glass into the 21st century.
The Prints of Andy Warhol (From A
to B and Back Again) is an
overview of Warhol’s career through the prints he created from the 1960s to
the 1980s. Organized by Margery King, associate curator at The Warhol, this
exhibition was conceived as something that could be seen in smaller museums
and galleries that might not be able to afford the cost of a paintings
show. Since taking to the road in May 1999, this show has continuously
opened to rave reviews and has meant record-breaking attendance at the host
museums and galleries all over the country. The list of potential venues
keeps growing.
“Warhol’s
prints are fantastic,” says King. “They aren’t necessarily seen in the
original as often as the paintings and they really need to be seen in
person to appreciate their beauty.” Since February The Prints of Andy Warhol has been seen at Weatherspoon Art Gallery, Greensboro, North Carolina, and Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, Tennessee, and is currently at Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, Maine
through December 31.
On
the other side of the globe, the exhibition Andy Warhol attracts hundreds of visitors on a daily basis.
This exhibition, organized in partnership with the U.S. Department of
State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, began traveling through
Eastern and Southern
Europe in January 2000
and continues through Spring 2002.
During
the early weeks of the exhibition’s run at the Yepi Kredi Gallery in the
heart of Istanbul, over one thousand visitors flocked to see the Warhol
retrospective, many of whom had never seen the artist’s work in
person. Critics claimed that Andy Warhol represented the biggest
splash on the Turkish cultural scene in recent memory. The exhibition’s run
at Art Pavilion Zagreb in Zagreb, Croatia resulted in similar record-breaking attendance
even before the terrorist tragedy. Andy
Warhol is currently making waves at the Moderna Galerija in Ljubljana, Slovenia, where it remains until December 9,
2001.
The
popularity of these traveling exhibitions is a testament to the enduring
relevance of Andy Warhol’s work. Museum director Thomas Sokolowski says,
“More than any other artist, he was able to click into the way we perceive
culture…. Warhol saw then the direction our world was going with the rapid
exchange of information, the ability for mass reproduction, the obsession
with the notion of reality-- and it’s all true today.”
The
Warhol began to organize or co-organize traveling exhibitions in 1996, and
by December 2001 Warhol's art will have been seen at 86 venues, and will
have reached more than three million people. The museum is now viewed as
the ultimate source on all things Warhol, and its traveling exhibitions
have returned approximately $700,000 from fees paid by presenting organizations,
to help defray operating costs for the museum.
The Warhol: Off the Wall 2001-2002
season
Performance Space 122 (the preeminent national pioneer in
performance art) and The Warhol again unite to bring an eclectic batch of
performance art pieces to Pittsburgh. The Off the Wall series features one
performance a month from October through May.
The 2001-2002 performances feature biting political and social
satire, humor, and visual elegance. The current series began in October
with Happy Hour by Wendy Houstoun, a "brilliant
renaissance woman of performance art" (says The New York Times), and continues with nationally and
internationally acclaimed artists.
This series has been supported in part by an anonymous
donor.
Kiki and Herb, Stop, Drop and Roll
November 17
Kiki and Herb have wowed legions at hip clubs around the country
(even at Madonna’s 39th birthday bash) with their politically
incorrect humor. In this
return-engagement at The Warhol you experience another round of their
tragic living drama – that of Kiki, an almost-famous diva past her prime
and Herb, her faithful “gay jew retard” accompanist.
The reviewers say: “darkly
funny…an evening with Kiki & Herb feels like cabaret crossed with
Gestalt Therapy” – Out; “totally
tasteless and fab” – The Village
Voice; “scaring the bejesus out of unsuspecting audiences
nationwide…delightful.” – Vanity
Fair.
Min Tanaka, Special Performance for the Space
December 15 performance
Legendary butoh dancer Tanaka does an improvised solo in the
performance space, responding to the rooms and the art in them.
Born in Japan in 1945, Tanaka studied and performed modern
dance with other choreographers from 1966-73, and in 1973 began to create
his own butoh works and to explore the meaning of the body and dance, based
on improvisation. He frequently
danced nude in both urban and country landscapes in an attempt to free the
body from conventional aesthetics.
Since then, he has appeared in various costumes ranging from a
tattered black suit and white shirt, to painted brown skin.
Off The Wall performances are on Saturdays at 8:00pm, and a meet-the-artist reception follows each
performance Seating is not assigned.
Tickets are $15 (students $10).
Series subscription tickets are available. For tickets and information call the The
Andy Warhol Museum at 412.237.8300
Coming up in 2002:
January 19, Penny Arcade, New York Stories
February 23 -- Holly Hughes, Preaching to the Perverted
March 23 -- Mike Albo, Please, Everything Burst
April 27 --Carl Hancock Rux, No Black Male Show
May 18 --Sarah Skaggs, Solo Salon
The Warhol Store
Online a captive audience is
growing
New things are taking place in the branding realm of The Andy Warhol
Museum. Warhol himself was one of the best brand managers of his time, and
left indelible marks of his name, artwork, film, personal collection and celebrity. In this tradition, The Warhol markets its
own brand of products, including successful lines of fashionable clothing
and housewares.
The latest products developed include a line of stylish Tees. The new Warhol Collection of Tees has three lines: “Beauty”
features Warhol’s whimsical 1950s drawing on baby doll Tees; “Icons” is the
men’s line and feature iconic images from Warhol’s work; and “Philosophy”
is a unisex line featuring infamous Warhol quotes. The collection is 100
percent cotton and made in the USA.
The Brand Management department, managed by Rick Armstrong, has
updated The Warhol Store online with a new look and feel, and added
technological components to better market the new items. These components
include a product wish list, saved shipping and billing information, and
Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh membership information, all designed to make checking out of the
store more convenient and faster. The online store is the first museum
store to offer online wholesale product sales. The online store also offers
customers the ability to sign up for an e-mail newsletter, which features
new product introductions, specials and other store news.
The Warhol Store online has proven to be a very successful
international marketing tool for The Warhol. The online store has shipped
products to over 250 cities from 39 countries since its opening in June 16,
1999. In the United States products have been shipped to every state.
Rick Armstrong says, “The online store averages about 82 sales per
month, which grows each month and year. In fact, sales this year have
continued to increase by at least $1,000 each month over last year’s same
month. We are happy with this growth, especially since most of the
e-commerce industry is not seeing continued growth.” The average sales
transaction for the online store is three times higher than the average of
other online retailers. The reason for this, says Armstrong, is "the
website’s captive audience."
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