ANDY WARHOL
OTHER VOICES, OTHER ROOMS
12 October 2007 – 13 January 2008
Oosterdokskade 5
Amsterdam
T +31 (0)20 5732911
info [at] stedelijk.nl
In his art, Andy Warhol (1928-1987) merged the public with the personal and glamour and stardom with everyday life. He also predicted that everyone would have their fifteen minutes of fame, virtually predicting the coming of Idols and YouTube. With 27 films, rarely screened video tapes and audio recordings of Warhol himself, and extraordinary archive material, this exhibition zooms in on the focus of Warhol’s work: voyeurism, the mundane, the individual and the eradication of distinctions between high and low culture.
Visitors literally receive a ‘red carpet welcome’ to the exhibition, treated to a barrage of paparazzi-style camera flashes as their entrance is photographed. Music by The Velvet Underground, the band Warhol launched from his famous Factory, accompanies visitors as they roam through a film landscape that includes Screen Tests, Sleep, Blow Job, The Chelsea Girls, Kitchen and Mrs. Warhol. These films were Warhol’s experiments — secluded behind the camera, he shows people’s behaviour in all types of situations, without intervening, using time and observation as his ingredients. This land-scape leads to the poetic installation Silver Clouds, which, in contrast to the films is dreamy and calm.
The heart of the exhibition is the Warhol Cosmos, which highlights the master’s thinking and way of working. In addition to famous icons, the Factory Diaries, in which Warhol captured his life in the sixties, seventies and eighties with an imperturbable eye for detail, and objects from the Time Capsules play a significant role. Once again, drawings, photos and rare archive material are presented alongside audio fragments of luminaries such as Edie Sedgwick, Mick Jagger and Man Ray.
The final section of the exhibition synchronously presents all the material that Warhol produced for television — which was the latest medium in his lifetime. Now, he projects his voyeurism onto everyone, stars and ordinary people alike, in the medium that seemed best suited to the job. Just as he did in his magazine Interview Warhol also had a keen eye for detail and trivia, with which he exercised a specific influence on the development of both media. In this section, the museum created The Studio Room, where visitors can take a Factory-like screen test.
The exhibition is curated by guest curator Eva Meyer-Hermann, in collaboration with the Andy Warhol Museum, one of the four Carnegie museums of Pittsburgh, and is on view at the Moderna Museet, Stockholm from 9 February to 4 May 2008. The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue (NAi Publishers), the Andy Warhol Newspaper and a special issue of magazine Blend. The museum is offering various activities in The Andy Warhol Side Show — see www.stedelijk.nl for a complete range. Membership of the Andy Warhol Club provides unlimited free entrance to the exhibition and to parties, Factory Nights, film screenings and more. See also: www.andywarholclub.nl
