Staniar Gallery to Exhibit Andy Warhol Photographs
Andy Warhol was a prolific photographer, creating tens of thousands of images over the course of his lifetime as he documented the people, places and things around him. To commemorate their 20th anniversary, the Warhol Foundation donated nearly 30,000 photographs by the legendary pop artist to educational institutions across the country.
Washington and Lee University, Roanoke College and Hollins University all received the significant gift, which includes Polaroids and black and white, silver gelatin prints.
The schools have collaborated to present highlights from the individual collections in a unique, three-part exhibition. In the Event of Andy Warhol will premiere at Washington and Lee’s Staniar Gallery, opening on Jan. 9 and remaining on view through Feb. 4.
A selection of works by contemporary artists who have been inspired by Warhol will also be on display, including pieces by Shepard Fairey, Piper Ferguson, Ryan Humphrey, Deborah Kass, Charles Lutz and Burton Machen. The exhibit will travel to Olin Gallery at Roanoke College from March 1 – April 1, 2012. In the Event of Andy Warhol will end with the addition of original Warhol works paired with artists that influenced him, as well as his contemporaries, at the Eleanor D. Wilson Museum at Hollins University from May 31–Sept. 15.
Staniar Gallery will host an exhibition reception on Wednesday, Jan. 25. The event will begin at 5:30 p.m. with a public lecture by independent curator and Warhol scholar Stephen Petersen in Wilson Hall’s Concert Hall. The public is welcome.
In advance of the exhibit, W&L’s Student Arts League recreated Warhol’s “Screen Tests” by filming members of the University community in the same format that Warhol used — inviting them to sit in front of a neutral background and look into a video camera for several minutes. See a story on the Student Arts League’s Warhol “Screen Tests.”
Staniar Gallery is located on the second floor of Wilson Hall, in Washington and Lee University’s Lenfest Center for the Arts. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, please call 540-458-8861.
