Andy Warhol: A Factory, Kunsthalle Wien

Andy Warhol: A Factory
Kunsthalle Wien
Through May 2, 1999

I wish I could invent something like bluejeans. Something to be remembered for. Something mass.

Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol: A Factory is a multidisciplinary examination of Andy Warhol’s production which encompasses an unprecedented range of art and archival material in a multimedia framework is presented at the Kunsthalle Wien. This panoramic exhibition utilizes Andy Warhol’s seminal paintings and sculptures as the basis for an investigation of his work in diverse areas, expanding the prevailing perspective on this harbringer of post-war American culture.

Andy Warhol dubbed the three successive studios he kept during his lifetime Factories. Thus the term “factory” in the exhibition’s title designates Andy Warhol’s Factory as a geographical site and a historical concept as well as a traditional factory with numerous contributors. Each Factory was a nucleus for innovative and frequently iconoclastic endeavors – prolifically creative microcosms where Andy Warhol and the Factories’ participants generated a panoply of works embracing paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, photography, film, fashion, video, television, and music. Spanning from the 1950s to the late 1980s, Andy Warhol: A Factory surveys the cross-current of activities that constituted the Factories’ artistic output.

The exhibition is organized as a segmented labyrinth, presenting overlapping components of art in multiple media which break down the traditional hierarchy of disciplines. This methodology serves to illustrate the manner in which Andy Warhol pursued the same subject matter with different artistic vehicles and underscores the numerous approaches which can be taken to consider his endeavors. Andy Warhol: A Factory covers: Graphic and Commercial Art; Publications, Celebrities; Disasters; Brillos; Flowers; Silver Factory Films; Superstars; The Velvet Underground and Nico; Television and Video; Maos; Skulls; Hammers and Sickles; Oxidations; Shoes; Dollar Signs; Rorschachs; Ads; Stitched Photographs; Art-Historical Appropriations; Portraits; and Self-Portraits.

Andy Warhol: A Factory is conceived by Germano Celant, Senior Curator of Contemporary Art at the Guggenheim Museum, New York, with Vivien Greene, Assistant Curator. John Hanhardt, Senior Curator of Film and Media Arts, is supervising the video and film components, the latter in consultation with Callie Angell, Adjunct Curator, Andy Warhol Film Project, at the Whitney Museum of American Art. The acclaimed architect, Gaetano Pesce, has designed the installation. 

A catalogue with an introductory text by Germano Celant and 600 illustrations accompanies this presentation of the exhibition.

Extensive programming, including lectures, special film screenings and a 24 hour film night, from March 27 to March 28, with the presentation of the films Lonesome Cowboys (Andy Warhol, USA 1967/68, color, 16 mm, 105 min., OV), Empire (Andy Warhol, idea: John Palmer, realisation: Henry Romney, camera: Jonas Mekas,  USA 1964, b/w, 16 mm, 8 h 5 min., OV), and Sleep (Andy Warhol, USA 1963, b/w 16 mm, 5 h 21 min., OV, with John Giorno) will accompany the show.

Andy Warhol: A Factory has been organized by The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York in collaboration with the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg. 

Following the presentation at the Kunsthalle Wien, the exhibition will tour to the Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels (May 31–Sept. 19, 1999); the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao (Oct. 19, 1999–Jan. 13, 2000); and the Fundação de Serralves, Porto (Feb. 11–May 14, 2000). The exhibition will conclude in New York as part of the Guggenheim Museum’s millenial program in Summer 2000.

KUNSTHALLE WIEN
Karlsplatz, Treitlstr. 2, 1040 Vienna
www.kunsthallewien.at

Updated 04.07.2019