Some things remain to be true, one of them being that I was born in the wrong era. The era that I should have enjoyed my post-pubescent partying years would have been the late seventies. But alas, in 1977, I was only 8 years old.
You see, it was in 1977 that Studio 54 came alive and the who’s who of New York’s entertainment and cultural scene had a chic new venue to let loose, and well, party like rock stars. A few of those who partook in the craziness of Studio 54 included Andy Warhol, Truman Capote, Dianna Ross, Mick and Bianca Jagger, Liza Minnelli, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Salvador Dali.
And, it was under the sparkling disco ball that Andy Warhol created a movement that would forever change the way the world would look at art.
Andy Warhol used the medium of music to transform himself from fan, to record album designer, to producer, to celebrity night-clubber, to “rock star.” Warhol Live, at the de Young from February 14 to May 17, 2009, presents the first comprehensive exploration of Andy Warhol’s work as seen through the lens of music.
From 1949, the year he arrived in New York, to 1987, the last year of his life, Warhol illustrated fifty-one album covers, from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake to Aretha Franklin, Count Basie, Artie Shaw, the Velvet Underground, the Rolling Stones, Diana Ross, and Blondie. The album covers read like a history of postwar American musical tastes, from classical to pop, jazz, soul, rock, disco, and avant-garde genres. He used music in his films and filmed concerts. He produced music videos and met with musicians, notably for Interview, the magazine he founded in 1969.
This exhibition brings together a wide variety of works depicting pop music royalty, including Elvis Presley, the Velvet Underground, Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones, Liza Minnelli, Grace Jones, Deborah Harry of Blondie, and Michael Jackson. Major Warhol silkscreen paintings, films and sound recordings, album covers, illustrations, and photographs inspired by music and the performing arts will provide a visual and aural score to Warhol’s extraordinary work and life.
This is a rare chance to see the iconic images that we hear so much about in our pop culture world.
Programs and Events
Warhol Live
At the de Young
February 14–May 17, 2009
POP PARTY: Tickets required
Saturday, February 21
Join us to celebrate the opening of Warhol Live at the POP PARTY with specialty cocktails like the Nico-tini, Warhol Sour, and Velvet Underground Punch, treats, exhibition viewing, go-go dancers, paparazzi and dancing to The Unauthorized Rolling Stones. Dress: Studio or Factory fabulous!
• ArtPoint VIP Pre-party 8–9 pm
Hosted bar, hors d’oeuvres, music, tours of Warhol Live and all-night access to the exclusive VIP lounges. POP PARTY admission included.
Advance tickets: $100/members, $125/non-members.
Tickets available at the door for an additional $25/ticket.
• POP PARTY 9 pm–midnight
Enjoy cocktails, treats, and exhibition viewing and dancing. Specialty cocktails are free.
Advance tickets: $40/members, $55/non-members.
Tickets available at the door for an additional $10/ticket.
Tickets: www.brownpapertickets.com/event/52481
Questions: membershipevents@famsf.org or 415.750.7674
DOCENT LECTURES:
Warhol Live
Saturday, February 14, 1 pm
Saturday, February 21, 1 pm
Tuesday, March 3, 1 pm
Saturday, March 7, 1 pm
Sunday, March 15, 1 pm
Saturday, April 4, 1 pm
Sunday, April 19, 1 pm
Sunday, April 26, 1pm
Saturday, May 2, 1 pm
Sunday, May 10, 1 pm
WORKSHOP for Art Lovers, Teachers, and Group Leaders
Saturday, March 14, 9 am–noon
CHILDREN’S WORKSHOPS: Doing and Viewing Art and Big Kids/Little Kids
Saturday, March 14 & April 25, 10:30 am–noon & 1:30–3 pm
FRIDAY NIGHTS AT THE DE YOUNG: Celebrating Warhol Live
On Friday nights, the entire museum is open until 8:45 pm. Friday Nights at the de Young offers a variety of interdisciplinary arts programs, including live music, poetry, films, dance, tours, and lectures. The cafe is open with a special Friday Nights dinner menu, and a no-host cocktail bar is serving drinks. There are art-making activities for everyone.
Programs are free except where indicated. Museum admission is always free to members; regular admission fees apply for non-members to visit the galleries: $10/adults, $7/seniors, $6/youths (13–17) and college students with ID, free for children 12 and under. A $10 surcharge applies for non-members to visit the special exhibitions Yves Saint Laurent and Warhol Live (opening February 14). Warhol Live related programming is scheduled on the following Fridays:
Friday, February 20, 5–8:45 pm
Friday, February 27, 5–8:45 pm
Friday, March 6, 5–8:45 pm
Friday, March 13, 5–8:45 pm
Friday, March 20, 5–8:45 pm
Friday, March 27, 5–8:45 pm
Friday, April 3, 5–8:45 pm
Friday, April 10, 5–8:45 pm
Friday, April 17, 5–8:45 pm
Friday, April 24, 5–8:45 pm
Friday, May 1, 5–8:45 pm
Friday, May 8, 5–8:45 pm, College Night
Friday, May 15, 5–8:45 pm
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20
Celebrating Warhol Live
Wilsey Court
6–8:30 pm
Photo ops and double takes courtesy of René and Rio Yañez and their gang of Warhols.
6–7 pm
Groove to the sounds of DJ Juanita More. The San Francisco Bay Guardian Best of the Bay 2008 named her Best Mistress of Motown: “Juanita dusts off overlooked musical nuggets of the past and gives them their shiny due. . . . Her dazzling production numbers utilize large casts of extras, several acts, and impeccable costumes that pay tribute to everything from Scott Joplin’s ragtime to Motown’s spangled sizzle, dirty underground ’70s funk to Patti LaBelle’s roof-raising histrionics.”
7:15–8:30 pm
Live sizzling music with NYC Now: Lissy Trullie. Time Out New York says, “Andy Warhol would have loved Lissy Trullie: Not only does she boast deadly downtown looks—striking, model thin, and with a penchant for bowler hats—she’s got the attitude and serious songwriting chops to match.”
6–8:30 pm
Hands-on art-making fun for everyone, led by “art diva” Kim Erickson. Design a Warhol-style portrait inspired by the exhibition and the museum’s permanent collection.
Koret Auditorium
6:30 pm
Lecture: Adventures in the Worlds of Art, Fashion, Film, Music, Publishing, Politics, and Society 1970–1987 by Bob Colacello. Book signing of Colacello’s Out immediately follows the lecture. Bob Colacello studied film at Columbia University in 1971. His 1970 Village Voice review of the film Andy Warhol’s Trash caught the attention of the pop artist. Within six months, Warhol made Colacello editor of Interview magazine and his books, and put Colacello in charge of selling his commissioned portraits to client ranging from Diana Ross to Empress Farah of Iran. Since 1984 Colacello has been a special correspondent for Vanity Fair and has published four books, including Holy Terror: Andy Warhol Close and Out. Out is available for purchase in the de Young Museum Store.
7:30 pm
Lecture: Pacific Art Niu Sila: The Pacific Dimension of Contemporary New Zealand Art by Giles Peterson, South Auckland curator and lecturer.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27
Celebrating Warhol Live and Yves Saint Laurent
6–8:30 pm
Wilsey Court
The San Francisco Bay Guardian presents YSL-A-Go-Go. The Guardian is staging a far-out dance extravaganza to celebrate the iconic French style of Yves Saint Laurent, featuring the wild sounds and sights of Bardot A Go Go, the world’s longest-running Francophilic swinging sixties dance party and Pop art experience!
FRIDAY, MARCH 6
Celebrating Warhol Live and Yves Saint Laurent
Wilsey Court
6:30-8:30 pm
Live Music by Japonize Elephants. Japonize Elephants featuring Sylvain Carton on guitar and vocals; Mouzhan Yousefi on guitar, mandolin, and vocals; Alisa Rose on violin; Marie Abe on accordion; David Gantz on junk percussion and vocals; Michael Mellender on bass and vocals; Jason Slota on vibraphone and vocals; Mitch Marcus on tenor sax and vocals. The first set is a mixture of French folk tunes that Sylvain’s parents (Dominique and Jean-Paul Carton) have been performing since the early days of the French folk revival of the 1960s and 1970s and traditional dance tunes (bourrées, mazurkas, and waltzes) primarily from central France. The second set is centered on the more irreverent and heavily orchestrated Japonize Elephants. Steeped in many musical traditions from around the world this group classifies its music as “hard-core gypsy circus bluegrass pirate-clown klezmer madness.” Blink and you’ll think you’re back in the orchestra of a French circus, with Mingus and Willie Nelson sitting in, songs fusing Appalachia with Romania, Vegas with Marrakesh.
6-8:30 pm
Artist demonstration by John Kuzich: From Ordinary to Extraordinary. Inspired by Andy Warhol, Kuzich works on a 30 square inch framed art panel while visitors observe the stages of development of his assemblage.
6-8:30 pm
Hands-on art-making for everyone led by “art diva” Kim Erickson.
Koret Auditorium
7 pm
Film: Superstar (1998; 87 min.). Superstar is a feature length documentary about Andy Warhol told through his art, his films, and the controversial times and world of which he was a part. The film uses previously shot material, including several revealing and enigmatic interviews given by Warhol over the years, as well as a wide array of images from Warhol’s art and films. The popular music of three decades as performed by Lou Reed, The Velvet Underground, Bobby Short, Donna Summer, Pink Floyd and others, as well as serious music by Tchaikovsky, Verdi, and modern composer John Adams is used as underscoring. Superstar includes a look at the people around Warhol in interviews shot expressly for the film and previously. Appearing in Superstar are Viva, Dennis Hopper, Roy Lichtenstein, critic Henry Geldzahler, Gerard Malanga, David Hockney, writer Fran Lebowitz, Liza Minelli, Ultra Violet, Taylor Mead, Shelley Winters, and others.
FRIDAY, MARCH 13
Celebrating Warhol Live and Yves Saint Laurent
Wilsey Court
6:30-8:30 pm
Live music by Aza: Timeless music of Morocco. Aza is a musical band founded in Santa Cruz by Fattah Abbou and Mohamed Aoualou. Both are from Morocco and currently live in Santa Cruz. They’ve played and studied music for over 20 years. Abbou and Aoualou are Berbers. Berbers or Imazighen (preferred term) are the indigenous people of North Africa whose history records date back 3,300 years. The band’s activities are not limited to music but also promoting the Amazigh culture.
6-8:30 pm
Make your own top hat with Corinne Okada Takara. Be inspired by Yves Saint Laurent and create your own fun and fashionable top hat of elegant silks, ribbons and papers with former artist-in-residence Corinne Okada Takara. Model your original creations in front of your friends and large gallery mirrors!
6-8:30 pm
Hands-on art-making for everyone led by “art diva” Kim Erickson.
FRIDAY, MARCH 20
Celebrating Warhol Live, Yves Saint Laurent and Bouquets to Art
Café Party Tent
6:30-8:30 pm
Zulu Spear reunion featuring Gideon Bendile. Bendile was born in Soweto, South Africa and came to the United States after touring with the state sponsored show “Ipi Tombi.” Bendile toured the world in “Ipi Tombi” along with fellow Zulu Spear member Matome Somo–a percussionist and singer. The two left the group in Las Vegas and San Diego, respectively, and claimed political asylum in the U.S. Bendile is currently working through the William James Association teaching South African dance and song to children in the schools through the Napa Arts Council. Bendile sings the title song as the beloved leading character in recent movie sensation The Lion King.
6-8:30 pm
The de Young presents the return of the infamous Great Tortilla Conspiracy. The team of Jos Sances and René and Rio Yañez silkscreen edible Warhol images on tortillas. See their mysterious process before your very eyes and then have them prepared in a dish and served to you by an Andy Warhol lookalike.
6-8:30 pm
Hands-on art-making for everyone led by “art diva” Kim Erickson.
FRIDAY, MARCH 27
Celebrating Warhol Live and Yves Saint Laurent
Wilsey Court
6:30–8:30 pm
¡Milonga de Saint Laurent! TangoCalifia: The Dance, The Myth, The Flame. A recreation of the great Argentine tango dance halls that exist to this day in Buenos Aires. Hundreds of couples dance in this milonga, bringing the passion, intensity, and sensuality of Argentine tango to the de Young. Tango once again captivates the world, and the Milonga de Saint Laurent shows you why.
6-8:30 pm
Hands-on art-making for everyone led by “art diva” Kim Erickson. Warholia Shoemania! Inspired by Warhol’s love of shoes, create your own shoe art with collage designs, markers, and ribbon.
Kimball Education Gallery
6–8:30 pm
Closing Reception. Celebrate the residency of Cosmo Kichman with light refreshments.
FRIDAY, APRIL 10
Celebrating Warhol Live and Earth Day with Common Ground Magazine
Wilsey Court
6–8:30 pm
The de Young goes green with Common Ground Magazine featuring live music of Africa by Rhythm Village and a drum jam session led by Jenny Drummm.
Koret Auditorium
7 pm
Film: Factory Girl (2006). A beautiful, wealthy young party girl drops out of Radcliffe in 1965 and heads to New York to become Holly Golightly. When she meets a hungry young artist named Andy Warhol, he promises to make her the star she always wanted to be. And like a super nova she explodes on the New York scene only to find herself slowly losing grip on reality.
FRIDAY, APRIL 17
Celebrating Warhol Live
Piazzoni Murals Room
6-8:30 pm
Vincent De Paul’s Fourth Annual Discarded to Divine. Donated clothes transformed into one-of-a-kind couture creations by student and professional designers are showcased in the de Young’s Piazzoni Murals Room. This year the designers drew inspiration from the de Young Museum’s various works, including the exhibitions Maya Lin: Systematic Landscapes and Yves Saint Laurent as well as from the works of Andy Warhol. These fashion creations are made from clothing donated to the Vincentian Help Desk that are deconstructed and then reconstruct the garments into one of a kind couture pieces.
Koret Auditorium
7 pm
Film: Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol: Friends and Intersections (1997; 58 min.)
FRIDAY, MAY 1
Celebrating Warhol Live with the San Francisco Bay Guardian
Wilsey Court
6–8:30 pm
FRIDAY, MAY 8
Celebrating Warhol Live and College Night
Wilsey Court
6–8:30 pm
FRIDAY, MAY 15
Final Friday Night Celebrating Warhol Live
Piazzoni Murals Room
6–8:30 pm
The East Bay Express’s recreation of Andy Warhol’s original Factory, previously showcased at the Express’ after hours party in Emeryville in March, is reinstalled for one night only a the de Young. The installation includes iconic Factory furniture, screenings by Bay Area filmmakers, filmmaking in progress, and a special performance by the Mutants.
Wilsey Court
6:30 pm
Live music by the Mutants plus the psycho-delic sounds of DJ Neel N. Kizmiaz (Lush/Hai Karate/ Whorephanag). The Mutants are an important band in the history of San Francisco punk rock and new wave music, known for their theatrical performances that often include elaborate props, projections, and comical antics. They are credited with being one of the first “art-punk” bands in San Francisco, and were one of the most popular bands of the San Francisco punk scene during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Cultural Encounters at the de Young: Cultural Encounters Commissions Initiative
The father-son duo, Rene and Rio Yañez from SOMArts are concocting all kinds of mischief in conjunction with Warhol Live this season as part of the Cultural Encounters: Friday Nights at the de Young.
Saturday, February 14: Opening Day
The first day of Warhol Live features the debut of the Andy Warhol performers. How many Andy Warhols can you spot wandering through the de Young? Have your photo taken with Andy Warhol or by Andy Warhol.
Friday, February 20
Have your photo taken with or by Andy Warhol in front of an exclusive Warhol-themed set. Photos are posted online and displayed throughout the night in the de Young. Master printer Jos Sances creates an installation inspired by Warhol’s Brillo Boxes.
Friday, March 20
The de Young presents the return of the infamous Great Tortilla Conspiracy. The team of Jos Sances and Rene and Rio Yañez silkscreen edible Warhol images on tortillas. See their mysterious process before your very eyes and then have them prepared in a dish and served to you by an Andy Warhol lookalike.
Friday, April 17
Witness the creation of a live painting by Andy Warhol and Basquiat performers in Wilsey Court.
Friday, May 15
Meet Edie Sedgwick and Andy Warhol performers in Wilsey Court. Audition to be a factory superstar in their custom set. Do you have what it takes to hang with Warhol? Selected videos will be posted online.
Enjoy the trip!
hey girl! where’s my photo credit on that fab photo i took of you and Andy? and where’s my shot with him? write me…have i got diva tales for you and your readers! Leslie