Kurt Cobain isn'êt the only pop culture figure getting the gallery treatment at the Seattle Art Museum. Works by pop art icon Andy Warhol are on display through Sept. 6 as a part of 'êlove fear pleasure lust pain glamour death — andy warhol media works.'ê
The exhibit primarily focuses on Warhol'ês photography and film efforts, with portraits shot in a photo booth being the main attraction. The photo booth strips are at times candid and other times serious portraits. Marisa Sánchez, SAM'ês assistant curator of modern and contemporary art, said that since there is no artist present, the photo booth series allowed subjects like Warhol muse Edie Sedgwick and others to open up and be captured in a more free-spirited manner.
Further into the exhibit, Warhol turns the lens on himself in a series of 19 self-portraits that are as entertaining as they are interesting. Also on display are Warhol'ês screen tests, which are a series of silent black-and-white films projected onto SAM'ês walls. The short films are closeups of the likes of Lou Reed, Nico, Dennis Hopper and other friends of Warhol. At the end of the exhibit you can take your own portrait in a photo booth and hang one of the shots on a wall.
At 7:30 p.m. Friday (May 21), SAM will show "Chelsea Girls" (1966), the first of four early films directed by Warhol. The film features the Factory Superstars in twelve unedited reels projected side by side. Doped-up Pope Ondine listens to confessions, Eric Emerson delivers a soulful monologue before doing a striptease, and singer Nico silently weeps in a pool of colored light.
The other films in the series, shown in honor of Gay Pride Month, are "Vinyl" (June 11), "My Hustler" (June 18), and "Lonesome Cowboys" (June 25). Tickets cost $25 for the four-film series ($22 for members), or $7 for single shows (sold day of show at the auditorium, cash only).
