"Queer(ing) Warhol: Andy Warhol's (Self-)Portraits"
2001-11-10 until 2002-03-02
California Museum of Photography
Riverside, CA, USA

Andy Warhol is one of the most famous and popular artists of the last century and from November 10, 2001 — March 3, 2002 some of his less well-known works will be on display at UCR/California Museum of Photography. Queer(ing) Warhol: Andy Warhol’s (Self-) Portraits looks at photographs of Andy Warhol along with his self-portraits as documents of Warhol’s conscious performance of a queer identity.

Warhol’s influence on contemporary artists and on contemporary perceptions of art is vast. He dealt with issues of photographic truth, consumer culture, and media spectacle years before the age digital imaging and reality TV. By presenting himself in a range of drag costumes Warhol morphs his identity before the camera. The strategies presented in this exhibition of portraits of and by Warhol provide a new perspective on his entire oeuvre. In his best known works Warhol manipulates the power of appearance and representation making Campbell soup cans and Marilyn Monroe faces icons instead of literal representations.

Queer(ing) Warhol is an exhibition that seeks to correct the dominant representation of Warhol as an asexual Pop art celebrity. The exhibition looks instead at how Warhol’s overtly queer public persona comments on popular conceptions of the male artist. The images and objects in Queer(ing) Warhol will present three arenas: Warhol in drag performances, Warhol in his studio The Factory, and Warhol in the streets and underground film scene of New York City. Contributing to this reevaluation of Warhol a symposium of leading Warhol scholars will be held January 19 — 20, 2002 at the museum. Entitled Queer(ing) Warhol: Examining Andy Warhol’s Queer(ed) Performances this event will also include screenings of Warhol’s films Andy Warhol, Andy in Drag: A Factory Video Diary, Superstar, and The Queen. The evening will end with a performance by Vaginal Davis. Queer(ing) Warhol will be mounted in conjunction with Iké Udé: Beyond Decorum work by contemporary international multimedia artist Iké Udé. Both artists address the production and circulation of identity, celebrity, gender and sexuality as spectacles in popular visual culture and together they provide a compelling examination of these issues that spans from the 1960s until the present.

Related Links:

Indepth Arts Resources for the State of California

Other Important Exhibitions in California