A Pop (ART) Quiz (Part One): Warhol Comes To Town

Quick: Name the American artist who put Pop Art on the cultural map and name his most famous subjects.

Of course you aced the quiz—Andy Warhol—and you got his subjects, too. Now, forget Marilyn Monroe, Liz Taylor, Elvis, and Jackie Kennedy. Forget the Coca Cola bottles and the US Dollar bills. Even, for now, forget the Campbell Soup Cans.

Sure, artist Andy Warhol immortalized them all, but America’s real love affair is with cars and Andy Warhol knew it. After all, Warhol had his finger firmly on the pulse of American popular culture from the 1960s until his untimely death in 1987 from a post surgical arrhythmia—the first and last time he was ever out of synch.

The Montclair Art Museum (MAM) under the uncanny eye of chief curator Gail Stavitsky has pulled off an artistic coup: “Warhol and Cars: American Icons,” the first exhibit to examine America and Warhol’s lifelong obsession with the auto. The show, with many pieces on loan from the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh—Warhol’s home town—will be seen exclusively at MAM.

The exhibit opens on Sunday, March 6 and runs through Sunday, June 19. Figure that the world will be motoring to our town to see it. As soon as I see it, I will register with my take on the show in Part Two of this column.

For now, Montclair Arts Talk wants to make sure you have the early word on the show and on some pretty hip related programs.

Here’s the run down: The 40 piece show will encompass Warhol’s output from 1946 to 1986. It starts with his beginnings as a commercial illustrator and speeds to “Twelve Cadillacs" (1962) pictured here, an early, heretofore overlooked multipanel silk screen with all the elements of Warhol’s style.

There will be paintings and prints from Warhol’s “Car Crash” series, Volkswagen ads from the 1970s and 1980s, as well as related photographs and archival material. You can see period Cadillac drawings and models, too.

There will be film of Warhol in action, painting a BMW in 1979 as part of the company’s art car project.

That is not all: MAM and its inventive exhibit designers are also time traveling back to the late 60's early 70's disco/happening scene with their separate installation of Warhol’s “Silver Clouds” project and a continuous showing of a film by the famed documentarian DA Pennybacker with Richard Leacock. The film looks at the 1968 modern dance piece, “Rainforest,” a dance which captured the spirit of that age.

Talk about your bold face names: "Rainforest” was choreographed by Merce Cunningham, with music by John Cage, costumes by renowned artist Jasper Johns, and set design by Warhol.

(Installations are becoming a MAM signature: Last year Stavitsky and company created an ersatz living room setting for some of famed art collectors Herbert and Dorothy Vogel’s most cherished pieces.)

Stavitsky also wrote the exhibition catalogue, a fully illustrated 88 page consideration of Warhol’s automotive works in the context of his entire output.

As to public programs for all ages, here’s the preview. Sign up now!

Twenty five lucky participants can be part of a Sunday, March 27 joint MAM and Montclair Adult School silk screen program and special exhibit tour. Montclair State University and Pratt Institute Professor Catherine LeCleire will demonstrate how Warhol attained his color rich images. Call (973) 746-6636 to register. Price is $40 for MAM members and $45 for nonmembers.

Warhol’s nephew, James Warhola—like many self-invented American popular celebrities, Warhol changed his family name—comes to MAM on Thursday, April 7 at 7 p.m. to discuss Warhol’s personal side, including his home life in the 1960s. (Warhol—whose, uh, alternate lifestyle is as famous as his work—had a home life?) Come hear Warhola, himself an award winning children’s book illustrator, also talk about his uncle’s transition from commercial to fine artist. Price is $10 members; $15 nonmembers.

“Holy Terror, Warhol Close Up” by Bob Colacello, a former editor of Warhol’s “Interview” magazine—now, that’s the Warhol some of us remember. Colacello’s book will be the subject of the Tuesday, April 27 MAM community book club discussion at 7 p.m. Free to MAM members; $12 nonmembers. Start reading now and maybe keep “Holy Terror” away from the kiddies.

The kiddies, however, get their own G rated Free MAM Family Fun Day on Sunday, May 22 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Count on the always imaginative MAM team to have Warhol inspired art projects and come tour the exhibit that day.

Also note, there's a 20% discount on all Warhol-related items in the MAM gift store on Sunday, March 6 only.

“Warhol and Cars: American Icons” runs from Sunday, March 6 to June. The MAM is open Wednesdays though Sundays. See www.montclairartmuseum.org or call (973) 746-5555. It is located at 3 South Mountain Ave., is handicapped accessible, and has adjacent parking. Nonmember admission is $12; $10 for seniors 65+ free for children under 12 and for all the first Friday of every month.

What are your thoughts about Pop Art? Tell us in the comments.