Above (detail only): A Sewing Machine by Andy Warhol
Typically for the ArtScience Museum, ‘Andy Warhol: 15 Minutes Eternal’ promises to be more than just a series of pictures – it’s designed to be as interactive as possible, with a kids’ area, a re-creation of Warhol’s famous 1960s New York studio, The Factory, and a photo booth where visitors can dress up as the pop icon or his muse, the actress/ model Edie Sedgwick.
Then there’s the art, all of which comes from The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which has co-curated the show. The exhibition presents a chronological retrospective of the artist’s full career, with over 260 artworks in total, spanning early drawings from the 1940s to his final pieces before his death in 1987, including rarely seen large-scale paintings, such as ‘The Last Supper’ from 1986. Many of his iconic works, such as the prints featuring Campbell’s Soup, Marilyn Monroe, Jackie Kennedy and more, will also be presented.
Separated into decades, each section for the exhibition will also contain associated materials, photographs and documents from the Warhol Museum, as well as contextual information and props from the ArtScience Museum. The re-creation of The Factory features an installation of the piece ‘Silver Clouds’, which can be seen in numerous Factory videos. The photo booth is replete with props, so that you can get your two minutes looking like the original hipsters.
One highlight of the special children’s area is a restaging of a 1983 exhibition from the Bruno Bischofberger Gallery in Zurich, in which a series of toy paintings are displayed at child’s-eye level. Another feature, aimed at visually impaired visitors, is the embossed reproductions of several major Warhol works, including the Campbell’s Soup series and Marilyn portraits. The works are displayed directly across from their original counterparts, and come with Braille information panels.
Significantly, there will also be a locally curated section featuring paintings from South-East Asian artists inspired by Warhol. Practitioners on show include Singapore’s Jahan Loh, Thailand’s Jirapat Tatsanasomboon and two late artists from Malaysia, Redza Piyadasa and Ibrahim Hussein – the latter’s ‘Warhol in Memory’ series incorporates one of Warhol’s later, iconic self-portraits.
$13-$28; senior citizens $12-$27; children under 12 $8-$16