Andy Warhol exhibit, Frist Museum, Nashville
Kristi and I went down to Nashville Sunday - I played again at the Bluebird. My brother Cary came down again. We did a really nice set. We have a nice video of the performance, and I hope to get it edited and put on YouTube sometime soon.
While we were there, yesterday afternoon, we went to the Frist to see their Andy Warhol exhibit. Kristi and I have been Andy Warhol fans for a while - and that was reinforced by our visit to the Andy Warhol museum in Pittsburgh several years ago. So when we saw that there was going to be a Warhold exhibit at the Frist - one that emphasized his connection to "music and dance" we thought that was cool, and wanted to see it. But what we saw when we got there we weren't prepared for in the least.
The show was incredibly deep in Warhol works - covering a long span of his life - from the 50s until his death. There was much more and different works than what we saw in Pittsburgh. Kudos to the Frist and the curator. And the show, while having a frequent theme of Warhol's attraction and influence by and on music and dance, it was much more than that. This is a show that anyone interested in the 60s and how that culture developed and influenced the nation should try to see this show.
There were a number of interesting facets to the show, but they had a great collection of some of Warhol's more prominent illustrations, from his earliest days as an illustrator. And from those beginning times as a illustrator, he had that flair, that independence, that originality that stuck with him throughout his career. For example, Warhol illustrated a number of programs and posters for musical events, including prestigious classical music performances. He illustrated a lot of album covers. And his illustrations were awesome.
They also had a lot of his films, which were playing non-stop in various rooms. I can't say that I'm prepared to sit down and watch hours of Warhol films, but the great thing about his films is that you watch 10 minutes and get the feel. And the feel is that Warhol didn't want you to get sucked into the concept of "normality." And that was good advice.
And then there were the portraits - the silkscreen prints that were also painted upon. Besides his Campbell's Soup cans, which are his most famous works, and which were well represented in the Frist show, his portraits are his second most identifiable pieces. And while, when we went to Pittsburgh, we saw a number of his most famous portratis - Marilyn Monroe, Mao Tse Tung, and Elvis, in this show, there were a number of his portraits which were incredible but didn't get a lot of publicity, like Mick Jaeger, Lisa Minnelli, Robert Rauschenberg, and others.
In addition, there were a number of issues of his inter-VIEW newspapers. I had never seen one before. These were very influential in celebrity circles, in those days. And the covers were Warholesque portraits of some of the biggest celebrities of our day.
Then there was the display about his work promoting the Velvet Underground. They developed a happening, which he called something like "The exploding plastic inevitable." It became one of the hip things of the time. It included music, lights, and just not acting normal. It also propelled Lou Reed into his position of influence in the pop rock field. There is a lot of memorabilia from those days.
Oh yeah, and then his hanging out with the Stones early on. And I guess he hung out with John and Yoko. Geez, the guy was hanging out with everyone that someone like me thought was influential in those days. And he was without a doubt a big influence on them.
One of the most memorable things in the show was a quote posted in which he supposedly quoted his mom talking to him. It went something like this - "don't be pushy, but always let people know you are around." That kinda became his mantra. He strived to have a presence bigger than his actual persona. And he did that - perhaps better than anyone else that has ever lived.
Andy Warhol, who the conversatives have tried to brush off as out of the ordinary, and many in the mainstream have tried to paint as someone who completely manufactured his celebrity, was so obviously so much more than that. He was a genius that found his place in the world and had great influence on the culture - which continues. His death, like those of Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, and others, remains a mystery. "They" may have tried to do him in, but his influence is obviously only growing. And I'm glad.