Once more on Andy Warhol

Few documentaries on Andy Warhol I've dug in on YouTube after visiting the exhibition at Palazzo Reale.  

While knowing very basic things such as his famous soup cans or Hollywood celebrities silk prints and the fact that he was coming from an advertising background, these documentaries opened up much more than a deeply superficial artist craving for fame as Warhol once seemed to me. Once in a conversation about art I have said that the most important is to be unique and brought Andy Warhol as an example. While he was not drawing images nonexistent before, he was still the first turning those flatly painted daily objects like soup cans into iconic art objects. Something that did not require much skills, but a lot of creativity. Since he was the first to dare, he gets all the credits and fame, all the rest now who make exact same thing are just copycats. When saying that I was a bit irritated by the fact that there is such a big buzz around him. Now, my skepticism has changed to a better understanding the reasons and motivation of his art and why he has become so famous. 

 Andy Warhol - BBC documentary from Modern Masters series with Alastair Sooke

Andy Warhol - The Complete Picture

Andy Warhol Documentary

Andy Warhol Documentary by Chestershire Films

For the moment, only Part 1 is available as the video is quite new

Peter Jansen's, a Danish fashion designer, interview The Other Side of Andy Warhol. 

Below are Part 1 and Part 2 of the famous four-hour 2006 documentary by Ric Burns called Andy Andy Warhol: A Documentary Film - a "cinematic argument that Warhol was the greatest artist of the second half of the 20th Century". I have gone through the first part only and to tell the truth I am more inclined to agree with the author now than before watching that documentary: a convergence of a skeptical non-fan to someone appreciating Andy Warhol. 

Part 1

Part 2

Click here for Andy Warhol in fashion

Andy I Did Not Know Of

Only few days ago I was watching Brant's interview on youtube where he narrated the story of how he started collecting Warhol. What was my surprise to discover that his renown collection is now on show at Milan's Palazzo Reale. Yet, I left the exhibition slightly unimpressed, but maybe because I was expecting it to be as vibrant and fun as Pollock and Irascibles which is also on view at Palazzo Reale. Both events are curated by the same group as a part of Autunno Americano project. 

My friend's saying "never expect anything, so you can be always genuinely surprised" despite being said about men, can be applied to literally anything. Yes, this saying sums up my feelings. 

Things I did not like much

It was DULL: an exhibition about a guy whose name is a synonym for pop-art was not designed as a pop-art story at all.  

The entrance was promising and reminded me of silk printing technique that Warhol brought to art from advertising, with black and white images in which one could trace the artist's portrait and silhouette. Psychedelic music as a background was completing the picture. But all fun was introduced and remained in the entrance hall, unfortunately. I hoped to see some pop-art superficiality (in a good way) also in exhibition design to get some good vibes as I have been sick for ages and wanted something to offset my physical weakness (the reason why I chose Warhol over Rodin or Brain science exhibition), but instead I discovered mouse-grey walls with same color signs, few of which were torn from their fixture and neglectfully moved/twisted. 

Maybe the organizers did not want to follow the steps of a one-room April 2013 Startdust exhibition comprised of Bank of America Merrill Lynch collection and curated by Laura Calvi in 900 Museum that despite being tiny was funky and fun. I enjoyed reading the signage in acid pink or green colors and having those "booms" and "bams" call-outs (which are more related to Roy Lichtenstein, but still...). I was not expecting exact replica of Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart's 1974 wallpaper background on the picture below, yet they could have done so much fun out of this exhibition, but instead it was like any other art show.

  

Maybe it was request of Brant Foundation or Palazzo Reale or maybe Arthemisia Group has had a busy period simultaneously organizing three (as far as I know) exhibitions at Palazzo Reale and did not want to deal with all craziness of making a crazy pop-art show or maybe got relaxed as both of its previous shows, the Pollock's and the one on Modigliani was a grand success. 

The power of iPhone: the photo captured a pretty nice exhibition

I still enjoyed the show, in particular, the information on the audioguide, with short music pieces I suppose from Velvet Underground which was interlinked with Warhol. As a visitor I learned a lot from the narration, but it was too long for the amount of works present as in each room almost all the items had audio comments. Pop-art is a quick art: it was created fast and is viewed fast, so while I had satisfied my visual curiosity for all paintings in a room, the narration was still on some historical facts of the first painting. If you struggle with this kind of dissonance, follow my technique: compare various prints for the amount of ink that affected sharpness of an image, and whether there were any different dots in one missing in another print (also since I have recently made my first prints in a workshop by Paul Coldwell - if I were with someone I could have bragged about that, but I was alone and fully consumed by the audio). For some reason I felt weird, only in a bit I understood why: even those who came in groups almost did not communicate with each other because of the power of an audio guide separation - something simultaneously bad and good I would say. Another funny observation: since everyone followed the number sequence for the guide's narration, we were moving in a small group from one painting to another as a small cluster of sardines in ocean's current. This was funny to notice as the space was big but everyone was gathered in one corner closing the view to each other and listening to the same story, maybe with few seconds delay.   

Unlike Pollock's, this exhibition did not have any interactivity and the only video in a hidden room was in Italian (same drawback is at Pollock's), without subtitles and even though the interviewer was telling interesting facts, if volume was turned down and few images of Warhol's works were not shown it would not drive my attention as I would not even know what is it about. I don't ask an art critique to be like Hollywood actor Alan Cumming in Tate's Unlock Art short when narrating about Pop Art, but making it a bit more dynamic and, of course, with subtitles, could have made the video room interesting to a group of international youngsters who entered the room and left immediately.  

This is Tate's Unlock Art short that I by chance saw this morning, which then mysteriously disappeared from Tate's Youtube channel and website

While I liked the curves and bright colors of the benches, I was not very eager to sit on them as they looked uncomfortable and unstable. Their curve was uneven, so in the biggest room despite placed in the middle they were not giving me freedom to choose which way to seat and which paintings to observe while seated. I had many versions why these futuristic pieces of furniture ended up in Warhol's show, but I felt that their appearance was not fully associated with flamboyant pop art. But I don't know Warhol that well and maybe these were copies from his famous Studio 54. 

The last, but not least, the hashtag #WARHOL is generic and cannot be "l'hashtag ufficiale della mostra" ("official hashtag of the exhibition"). Maybe it was also done on purpose to get people's opinion about the show lost in the twitter flow of global Warhol's fans. 

Things I did not know...

...or rather the art by Warhol I did not know. 

His Rorschach-inspired ink paintings of the 80s are one of few examples where Warhol did not base his artwork on preexisting images, rather creating them himself. Another example of experimenting with shapes, without actually knowing or controlling the end result are so-called Piss or Oxidation Paintings. The title speaks for itself: he was urinating on canvases also involving his assistants and guest of the studio to contribute. Gross one might think, but believe me or not, this Warhol I like more than the one obsessed with celebrities and money. 

The third discovery was to know that at the end of his abruptly stopped career his last show was inspired by my favorite Milan-based Cenacolo Vinciano or The Last Supper. For that purpose he visited Milan and made many variations of this renown Leonardo Da Vinci's mural painting.   

Yes, I am guilty for this snap... but as I already said in my earlier post, I don't like the idea of forbidding taking photos at an exhibition

...and for these tree discoveries about Andy Warhol I am glad I went to that exhibition. 

So, despite my pretentious old spinster style review, I do recommend to pay a visit, plus, it won't take long: as with all my scrupulosity of listening all comments, reading all signages and viewing 20 min video I spent there a bit more than 1 hour. Just make sure to get to the ticket office an hour before the closure time: apparently, the vending machines stop functioning and cannot issue tickets (at least, this was an explanation for today's Brain exhibition that I did not manage to visit).

What happens when Warhol's show last visitor, aka me, leaves the exhibition hall? A guy in a white wig pretending to be Andy Warhol and a bunch of nicely dressed people walk in the exhibition space - Dom Perignon's corporate event starts

Art in Fashion

If you don't have millions to afford original Damien Hirst's piece, find a set of 12 plates quite pricey as well as a skull for ca.€4000 a bit too much for a small and useless interior design object, now you can buy something arty yet practical to cover your neck from approaching winter cold and wind. 

Starting from today a limited collection of contemporary artist's designs for Alexander McQueen brand is found in stores. I admit to like Hirst as a textile designer more than an artist, maybe because I like scarves and crave for the one of McQueen.

Probably, the history of collaboration between art and fashion goes even beyond Salvador Dali's drawing a lobster on for Elsa Schiaparelli's dress. Btw, do you know that Dali was an exceptional jewelry designer: when he was short in money and his paintings were not sold he was doing exclusive and exquisite jewelry pieces. My favorite is brooch with a mechanism that imitates human's beating heart  (according to doctors mechanical heart pulsates as a real one).

Among recent portable art projects, I can recall Louis Vuitton's summer 2012 collaboration with Yayoi Kusama that allowed to embellished her recognizable dots on bags and sunglasses, turning them into eccentric accessories and Anselm Reyle for Dior in 2011. Who will be next?

Since high-end fashion brand designers and stars make limited edition collection for H&M, some contemporary artists should join them as well making early 20th century communist slogan "Искусство в массы" ("Art into Masses") reach fashion masses. Do you think this might dilute gallery and auction prices for these artists' works? 

February 6, 2014 addition: 

Inspired by Andy Warhol and model Twiggy, Pop Wrap Limited Edition collection celebrates DVF's 40 year anniversary of the wrap dress. The video is made by Alia Penner.

Arty Weekend – Part I

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Past weekend from the “apple-city” (Almaty) I moved to the capital of the Land of Fire – Baku.

My failure to meet Warhol

Baku, the biggest port on Caspian Sea, has gone through several changes in the past few centuries. The commercialization of oil in the late nineteen century enriched the city and its architecture. The effects of the second oil boom of a recently independent country gave a boost to a new level of rebranding. Some of the changes are worth to be proud of while some others are small “genocides” against the city’s cultural heritage and green zone. The city of controversies and vanity, Baku has added a new facet to its image: in the past few years there has been a real boom of contemporary art – an area highly appreciated and supported by the president's family. Some unprecedented international initiatives took place recently one of which was bringing Andy Warhol's 100 works to a newly inaugurated Heydar Aliyev Center – a futuristic creation of the architect Zaha Hadid. 

Those who went to Common Ground, a 2012 Architecture Biennale in Venice, probably have seen this building’s model in the section of the exposition dedicated to Zaha Hadid. 

Heydar Aliyev Center became another architectural marvel of city's modern look

Live it looks impressive: the “tent’s” ivory curves shine in the sun, the sterile white interior of the entrance area promise franquillity, yet there has to be another time to discover all of its beauties as the building was closed for visits the day I was in Baku! So this unpleasant fact made impossible to see Warhol’s Life, Death and Beauty exhibition. It could have been my second only-Warhol time as in Milan’s 900 museum I have recently seen Bank of America Merrill Lynch collection of the artist’s works which is on until September 8th. The exposition was disappointingly small as I expected something beyond one room exposition, yet informative as a sort of a storyline was created through which evolution of Warhol’s techniques could be traced. In addition a nice designer solution of flavoring the exhibition with explanatory text in pop-art style (fluorescent colors, call boxes, etc.) added funkiness to the visitors’ experience. Also, I have discovered that there were many variations of famous Campbell canned soup and during the first show 32 metal soup cans were exhibited next to the paintings. So despite finding Warhol overrated and not among my favorite artists I still admit he was a marketing genius.

 While in Milan the exhibition was crowded, according to those who were luckier than me in  recently exploring the center in Baku, the show is really good, but they were the only visitors as probably everyone is now at the seaside or abroad. According to local newspapers 25,000 tickets were sold the first weeks, yet I wonder whether hosting an event like this in the middle of summer was a right pick: Since most of the students are long time ago on holidays and the remaining suffer from the university standardized entry test itch, a big chunk of potential audience is out of reach. Art is still a hobby of a few and summer is a dead season as I have encountered empty rooms also visiting the Museum of Fine Arts and some contemporary art galleries mostly located within the Inner City (a part of Baku surrounded by a medieval wall).

Artistic quest continues…

The museum has been recently renovated but I found the look a bit kitsch. In addition, its three floors vaguely have any organizational structure and navigation as well as lack any printed or descriptive materials except painting titles (this reminded me a comment I write on a slide for a post-storecheck presentation in a category management project I am currently working on!) neither the young girls working there really made an impression of very dedicated and knowledgeable employees. So unless you do your homework and study some art history beforehand/afterwards, your beyond-a-painting-title-curiosity will remain unsatisfied. Ground floor accumulated mixed chronology/theme classical art that included Shishkin, Aivazovsky, Kuindzhi, last floor was dedicated to national art with some remarkable pieces. 

Land, 1970s, Rasim Babayev

Land of Fire triptych: Ateshgah Temple,The Caspian Sea Nowadays, The Maiden Tower, 2007, Tahir Salahov

Still life with kelaghayi (a traditional silk scarf), 1973, Sattar Bahlulzade

Second floor had a temporary exposition arranged in a rush to commemorate the death of a renown Azeri artist, Togrul Narimanbeyov, whose lifeless body was a subject of fierce discussions on where to be buried: in the motherland or the city he lived past decades – Paris. 

Nizami World, 1980, Togrul Narimanbeyov

...title to be checked..., Togrul Narimanbeyov

An the winner is…

While in Amsterdam my favorite art gallery is Jaski, in Baku it was very easy to make my choice: there are quite a few galleries, some "historical" like Qiz Qalasi and newly opened like Yay! by Yarat Contemporary Art Space. I recalled an accidental discovery of Gazelli Art House on Dover street in London's Mayfair district this January when crossing the gallery’s entrance in Baku. Owned by ex-Sotheby’s employee, the Baku gallery had an exposition of three artists, David Jones, RoryMcCartney, and Hyo Myoung Kim as well as a very passionate about her work, friendly and knowledgeable employee Ayla (in all other Baku galleries the staff is either not present with gallery open for visits or has a basic or no knowledge about the items on exposition).

a view from the gallery's second floor to Rory McCartney's Psycho Boogie, 2011

Among the three, Korean artist Hyo Myoung Kim is my favorite as his works in digital media were both laconic and fascinating by their simplicity. His pixelated images look painted while printed on aluminum panels, especially A Thousand and One night or 1024 colors 100x100 cm Digital Diasec prints. The latter is a collection of the most beautiful and famous fireworks all over the globe – a quintessence of happiness and celebrations. If it had spare €4,5K I would buy this piece without any further doubt!

1024 colors, 100x100 cm Digital Diasec prints, Hyo Myoung Kim

1024 colors, 100x100 cm Digital Diasec prints, Hyo Myoung Kim

 This work by David Jones, Implosive Neuro Polymorphism, Polyurethane, Oil and Ink on Alluminium, 108x108 cm reminds me of Asian paysage or calligraphy, maybe because of the meticulous “ink lace”

For his Ultramagnetic 2010 painting Rory McCartney rotated the canvas several times to reach this dripping into different directions effect