TheBanyanTree: A Day at the Warhol

[Rob McMonigal]

So Erica and went to the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh on Sunday, partly
because neither of us have been there in quite some time and partly
because they had a Georgia O'Keefe exhibit that was ending this month
and she won't be around this weekend.  I had been there more recently
than her, but only to the mobile exhibits as that's all I had time for
on the wine tasting nights.

If you went to the Warhol a long time ago, the thing you need to know
the most is that while there is still a lot of Warhol art in the
galleries, it is far less than it used to be and far less than you'd
think.  This is either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your
opinion of his work.  I have to admit, I think they may have started
to err too much on the lack-of-Andy side of things--if you are going
there for Warhol only, the $15 entry fee is a bit much.  Over the
years, perhaps to keep interest up amongst local patrons, the Warhol
now has more Warhol-inspired exhibits.  In this case, it was O'Keefe
and her relationship to Warhol, a man who creates larger than life
human models, Australian artists who pay homage in their work to
Warhol, and a nifty neon-artist that I liked a lot better than Erica
did.

The O'Keefe was more of a teaser than anything else--they had a few of
her watercolors along with two Warhol prints of her using a diamond
dust technique that I absolutely loved.  (They also had a couple of
prints where he used this for shoes.  Good old Andy.)  However,
they're still nice to see up close and not in a picture book.

I was really impressed by the human models--they were so realistic!
Ron Mueck creates them out of his head, and not on any particular
person.  The hair, the bending of the flesh--it's all so very amazing
that you have to see it for yourself if you get the chance.  I think
my favorite was a naked man sitting in a boat, gazing into space--he
seemed determined to leave, but lacked the water.  Oh how true that
can be!

Bruce Nauman was the man with the naughty lights of neon, creating
verbal pornography at times (silence/violence) and just silly pron at
other moments--marching me who tend to get, um, excited, when they
start to move.  I found this work compelling, especially the interplay
between color and language and mashing up similar words with very
different meanings to make you think.  Erica was less impressed.
Perhaps it's too much Ogden Nash as a child.  At any rate, I probably
should have gotten the exhibit book but it was just a bit too dear.

The art from Australia was pretty cool as well.  I think my favorite
was the sardine cans that had naughty etchings, because of their
commonality.  Or maybe I was just amused to be squinting at naughty
bits of tin.  There was also a guy who used digital pointillism, which
I thought particularly cool.

In the basement, they have a small, free art studio that is also part
of the fun.  I did some block work on a skull and skeleton print,
respectively, along with a pop art button that I placed on my jacket
zipper.  The skeleton ended up a bit, well, X-rated, which I blame on
all the stuff I'd seen earlier in the day.  Or perhaps not. :)

All in all, a fun time.  I'm going to see what the exhibits are for
2008, and if they're cool, a membership may be in order for the first
time in a long time.

-Rob