ON THE WARHOL PATH

Wall of Fame, Interview Magazine installation at The Andy Warhol Museum

New exhibitions open in the regions leaving a trail emblazoned with icons.

It was all about Marilyn at Moore College of Art & Design in Philly where New York artist, Devon Dikeou unveiled a multi-media installation: Marilyn Monroe Wanted to be Buried in Pucci at Moore’s Gallery on Race. A whole host of students and Philly’s Center City art crowd turned up for the preview to feel the magic, trying on a diamond Eternity band Tiffany & Co resurrected from their archive that passed as the original Joe DiMaggio gave to Marilyn on their marriage.

http://www.moore.edu/event_calendar/114

Further North in the Bay State, a ruckus kicked up at the super-swank Diller & Scofido-desgined ICA on Boston’s waterfront. A rush of skateboarders, artists, critics, DJs and VIPs waived their invitation cards crossing the velvet ropes to celebrate Shepard Fairey: Supply & Demand, a 20-year survey guest curated by San Diego transplant Pedro Alonzo. An open bar jammed in the lobby while upstairs, guards controlled the crowds letting small groups in at a time to check out the show, a retrospective of Fairey’s work organized thematically throughout the galleries.

Propaganda, Portraiture and Hierarchies in Power explore Fairy’s critical thinking into advertising, symbols of wealth, and heroes that surround our daily life. Warhol, Hendrix, and Fairey’s beloved Punk Rock legends: Joe Strummer; Sid Vicious, and Joey Ramone dress up the pristine white walls in rooms labeled Music and Stylized, exploring the mash-up of popular culture, music and fine art. A perfect example of Fairey’s flair for image-sampling and wordplay is Marilyn Warhol, 2000 a portrait of Andre the Giant (Fairey’s signature icon) in drag as Shot Orange Marilyn, 1964 the famous Warhol silkscreen portrait of Marilyn Monroe that suffered a bullet hole in 1968 from shots fired by Valerie Solanas at Andy Warhol in the Warhol Factory.

Later in the evening, it was standing room only in the ICA’s theater where Alonzo took the stage with Fairey for what was an informal chat about Fairey’s career as a street artist. Watch out Charlie Rose, Alonzo’s cool West Coast style captivated the audience when he connected with Fairey about how it all started 20 years ago as a student in nearby Rhode Island at RISD.

http://www.icaboston.org/exhibitions/exhibit/fairey/

On the flight from Boston to The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh it seemed apropos that JetBlue was running Times on Air Screen Tests (i.e. The New York Times). Vaguely interesting documentary-styled profiles on movie stars like Tom Cruise and Roger Moore.

Hardly a primer to the crowd-pleasing performance that was in full swing at The Andy Warhol Museum where Warhol living legend, Brigid Berlin, reclined on a sofa and held court in the center gallery on the 3d floor with newly-appointed curator, Eric Shiner, reminiscing the good old days at The Factory and her Cockbooks that are on view now at the Museum in an exhibition called Breaking News! Brigid Berlin, A Retrospective. The show also includes Berlin’s needlepoint pillows of New York Post headlines. Talk about icons—the one titled Well Hung, 2008 is a meticulously stitched Post-like headline that reads: WELL HUNG Unveiled: Bubba’s hip new portrait.

In the upper galleries, Shiner’s ambitious debut, the warhol: THE END has more than 100 works by Warhol, his contemporaries and emerging international artists that analyzes art in our troubled times. Given the current economic plight it brings home the Warhol notion that art is commerce and commerce is an art. http://www.warhol.org/

Save the best for last, a pilgrimage to Warhol’s grave in St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Cemetery in Bethel Park, PA, just outside of Pittsburgh. It’s monumental Warhol.

Andy’s grave, St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Cemetery, Bethel Park, PA