" ~~'S T ,] Dia:Beacon • 3Rig Bn kmano Galleries Stree eacon~ York 1250 t\ · 84 40 0100 w diaart.or t \ \ \ \ \ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Dia's Andy: Through the Lens of Patronage "Dia's Andy " has been curated to celebrate the tenth anniversary of that initiative, while also paying tribute to this most prolific artist's extraordinarily heterogeneous production. Two series of paintings , the Disasters and Skulls, have been borrowed back from Pittsburgh for this occasion. The Brillo Boxes , among his most memo ­ As singular in its subject as in its scale, Andy Warhol's • Shadows (1978-79) was first rable sculptures, are presented here in a formation that recalls both their mode of exhibited in January 1979 at 393 West Broadway in New York City. ' Comprised of production and their debut at the Stable Gallery in New York in 1964. The counter­ sixty-six from a total of 1 02 paintings hung edge to edge to fill the gallery , the presen­ pointing of two other series offers a telling glimpse into the evolution of his aesthetic: tation created an environment that the artist in his inimitable fashion termed "disco The Screen Tests originated from Warhol's importuning of almost anyone who visited decor" and "one painting in many parts"; partaking of both mass culture and high art, the Factory in the early 1960s to pose or preen for the indifferent gaze of his Bolex it encapsulated Warhol 's dual interests, interests that he, unlike most of his contempo­ camera; in a wry inversion of this tactic ,portraits representing the famous , nonfa­ raries, deemed equal in value and import. Yet Shadows was initially received with mous, and infamous came to dominate Warhol 's enterprise in the 1980s, tempered enthusiasm, perhaps because at that time Warhol's reputation was in partial as prospective patrons were solicited from across the globe. ­ eclipse and because its subject was uncharacteristically abstract. However, this com Other facets of his miscellaneous and far-reaching enterprise include the magazine ­ mission from Dia's founders has subsequently proven not only a landmark in the insti Interview, which was launched in 1969 and forms the prototype for the publication , the tution's ongoing history of patronage but one of the highpoints at Dia:Beacon accompanying this exhibition; a: a novel, his groundbreaking prose masterwork ion. museum designed for Dia's extensive collection of works by artists from Warhol's generat based, verbatim, on conversations with the loquacious superstar Ondine; and the If Dia's founders were instrumental in determining this series' unprecedented size and Time Capsules ,an omnium-gatherum of sundry items, significant and trivial, precious scope, series were nonetheless a staple of Warhol 's practice. Indeed, at the time of and paltry, collected in the guise of an archive . The contents of another four of these his death in January 1987, he was preparing an installation of another ,albeit small er boxes, from a total of 61 2 , have been newly opened for this exhibition. Like those series, the Skulls (1976), for Dia's exhibition venue at 77 Wooster Street in Soho. already displayed elsewhere , they bear eloquent witness to both the catholic reach Ranging from vast to tiny ,a group of these paintings were to be hung on wallpaper of his taste and an egalitarian, not to say indiscriminate, appetite. Today, Warhol 's whose design was based on one of the many drawings of this motif. In a somewha t experimental films from the early sixties are arguably the least accessible of his key modified guise , the show finally opened posthumously , in the fall of 1987 . It was th e works. Selected by art historian Douglas Crimp , who is currently researching a third in Dia 's sequence of Warhol exhibitions that began , in spring 1986, with a grou p book on this subject, this summer's film program offers a rare opportunity to explore of Disaster Paintings from 1963 (also owned by the foundation) and was followed si x in-depth Warhol's still-radical approach to such cinematic protocols as duration, months later, in the fall of 1986, by a presentation of Hand-Painted Images from subject matter, narrative, framing, and editing. 1960-62, works that also came from Dia's collection. The enduring and possibly unrivaled impact made by Warhol's work on contemporary After the opening in 1987 of its large exhibition facility at 548 West 22nd Street in culture over the past half century is reflected in Louise Lawler 's inspired intervention Chelsea, Dia continued its commitment to Warhol 's art : In 1988 it hosted a day- here at Dia:Beacon. As evidenced in her selection of some fifteen examples , no long symposium, "The Work of Andy Warhol ": the resulting publication offers a wide­ other artist's work figures so frequently in the photographs she has shot over the ranging examination of the seminal Pop artist's image , impact, and critical reception. past three decades . Capturing his art "in and out of place; ' to borrow an apt phrase An exhibition devoted to a group of Last Supper Paintings in 1994-95 was followed from fellow artist Andrea Fraser, Lawler's project is at once trenchant in its explo­ by a second showing of the Shadows in 1998-99, devised this time for the museum ration of issues relating to the status and role of the modern masterpiece, and fond, annex, located at 545 West 22nd Street. Yet Dia's most substantive act of institutional in its homage to a maverick who continues to be reviled as well as revered within patronage was the project undertaken by former director Charles Wright, who the art world and beyond .2 initiated discussions with the Andy Warhol Foundation and the Carnegie Museum of Art in the late 1980s , leading to the founding of the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Warhol's hometown. With the exception of the Shadows , Dia's extensive 1. Later in 1 979, this venue became th e site for th e long-term presentation of Walt er De Maria's holdings of Warhol's work were donated in 1995 to form the basis of the new Broken Kilometer, also a Dia commission. museum's collection . 2. Andrea Fra ser, "In and Out of Place ;• Art in Am erica 73, no. 6 (June 1985) , pp. 122-29 . Ground-floor galleries 13 14 Exhibition continues downstairs 12 15 Portraits 17 16 18 19 20 Dia's Andy 9 downstairs stairs and elevator 10 11 21 to Oia's Andy Dia's Andy ground-floor 5 6 museum 7 8 entrance 2 3 4 • Shadows 15. Hospital, 1963 Silkscreen ink and pencil on linen 1. Shadows, 1 978- 79 107 ~ x 82 % inches (273.1 x 210.5 cm) Installation of 72 of 1 02 paintings Acrylic, variously silkscreened and painted on canvas 16. Gangster Funeral, 1963 75 x 52 inches (193 x 132 cm) each Silkscreen ink, acrylic, and graphite on linen Dia Art Foundation, New York 105 x 75% inches (266. 7 x 192.1 cm) Skulls 17. Foot and Tire, 1963-64 Silkscreen ink on linen 88 x 145 % inches (223.5 x 367. 7 cm) 2-9. Skull, 1976 Acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas 72 x 80 inches (182 .9 x 203.2 cm) each Collection The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh 18. Thirteen Most Wanted Men No. 2, John Victor G., 1964 Founding Collection, Contribution Dia Art Foundation Acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas 48 ~ x 37 inches (123 .2 x 94 cm) The Last Supper Collection The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh Founding Collection, Contribution Dia Art Foundation 1 0. The Last Supper, 1986 Acrylic on canvas 19. Thirteen Most Wanted Men No. 2, John Victor G., 1964 11 6 x 396 inches (295 x 996 cm) Acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas The Stephanie and Peter Brant Foundation, Greenwich , Conn. 48 ~ x 38 ~ inches (123.2 x 97.8 cm) Collection The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh 11. The Last Supper, 1986 Founding Collection, Contribution Dia Art Foundation Acrylic on canvas 116 ~ x 225 ~ inches (295 x 572 cm) 20. Self-Portrait, 1986 Private collection, New York Acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas 40 x 40 inches (101 .6 x 101.6 cm) Disaster Series Collection The Andy Warhol Museum , Pittsburgh Collection The Andy Warhol Museum , Pittsburgh Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. Founding Collection, Contribution Dia Art Foundation Brillo Boxes 12. 1947 White, 1963 Silkscreen ink and graphite on linen 21. Brillo Boxes, 1969 (replica of 1 964 original) 121 x 78 inches (307.3 x 198.1 cm) Acrylic silkscreen on wood s, 60 boxes: 20 x 20 x 17 inches (50 .8 x 50 .8 x 43.2 cm) each 13. White Burning Car Ill, 1963 Collection Norton Simon Museum , Gift of the artist Silkscreen ink on linen 1 00 x 78% inches (254 x 200 cm) Wallpaper 14. Ambulance Disaster, 1963-64 Washington Monument, 1 974 Silkscreen ink on linen 332 rolls of wallpaper 119 x 80 !-t inches (302 .3 x 203 .5 cm) The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh Founding Collection Contribution, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual ArtsInc., Portraits Joseph Beuys (1921-1986) Acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas Artist , born in Krefeld, Germany. 2 panels: 40 x 40 inches (101 .6 x 101.6 cm) each Beuys, the most celebrated German postwar artist , was known for his "actions" and collabora­ tive performances, as well as his sculptural objects and drawings, which often incorporated Collection The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh felt, wax, fat, and his signature medium, braunkreuz. Works in Dia's collection by Beuys are Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.