Ink
It’s too bad Andy Warhol died in 1987.
The celebrity-obsessed pop artist would’ve loved photographing Brangelina or directing music videos for Lady Gaga.
“My idea of a good picture,” Warhol once said, “is one that’s in focus and of a famous person.”
Warhol, who was a celebrity, is hot right now in Kansas City and Lawrence. His work is on display at both Union Station and the Spencer Museum of Art on the University of Kansas campus.
Warhol was best known for his electric-colored images of Campbell’s soup cans and celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, Elvis and Muhammad Ali, but he also dabbled in filmmaking, drawing, photography and music.
Here’s the lowdown on each exhibition.
“Andy Warhol Portfolios: Life & Legends”
Where: Union Station, 30 W. Pershing Road
When: Through Jan. 10.
Details: The exhibition — mostly made up of paintings and silk screens — is on loan from the Bank of America.
Union Station doesn’t usually exhibit art, and the space that houses “Life and Legends” formerly held the “Bodies Revealed” and “Dialog in the Dark” exhibitions. The space, in the boiler area of Union Station, feels like a factory, with pipes and beams running overhead. The stark-white walls allow Warhol’s colorful neons to pop.
One large wall is devoted to Warhol’s red and white soup cans. Another is occupied by several larger-than-life portraits of Muhammad Ali, which capture the vulnerable side of the trash-talking boxer. Perhaps the most charming part of the exhibit is the series devoted to endangered animals. These whimsical paintings of elephants, orangutans and rhinoceroses reveal the artist’s soft, animal-loving side.
Cost: $12. Get a free glass of wine if you go between 5 and 9 p.m. Friday.
Info: unionstation.org
“Big Shots: Andy Warhol, Celebrity Culture and the 1980s”
Where: The Spencer Museum of Art, 1301 Mississippi St. in Lawrence
When: Through Jan. 24.
Details: This exhibit meshes Warhol works from the Spencer’s collection with one of the museum’s newest acquisitions: a set of 150 photographs taken by Warhol in the 1970s and ’80s.
Curator Susan Earle said Warhol didn’t widely sell or exhibit his photography.
The Polaroids and 35 mm prints displayed mostly portray Warhol’s celebrity and artist friends. Also displayed are a handful of Warhol paintings and other artifacts from the era, such as a set of purple-and-red leggings by Betsey Johnson, who ran in Warhol’s circle. There are also snapshots by career photographers Robert Mapplethorpe and Bud Lee.
Much of Warhol’s work examines the tension between public and private life, particularly among celebrities, Earle said. Warhol’s candid photos of Brooke Shields, Mick Jagger and even Wayne Gretzky give the sense that these people are human, not super-human.
Same goes for Warhol. In one self-portrait near the entrance of “Big Shots,” Warhol stands bare-chested before a mirror, snapping a photo of himself. The twisted scar on his chest — the aftermath of a 1968 assassination attempt — is visible, but Warhol’s eyes are squinted at the flash. It’s an imperfect portrait, but aren’t those the best anyway?
Cost: Free
Info: spencerart.ku.edu
Make your own portrait:
Feed $2 into the vintage photo booth inside the exhibition and you’ll get four black and white photos.
