By Sarrah Peters
News Editor
Andy Warhol is coming to Gadsden.
“The Art of Andy Warhol” exhibit at the Mary G. Hardin Center for Cultural Arts begins tomorrow, August 15, and will end November 15.
Admission will be $8, but is free to Hardin Center members.
Six of Andy Warhol’s original screen prints from his “Myths” series will be displayed. He created the series in 1981. Warhol drew inspiration from pop culture.
As a result, the series displays many iconic cultural figures including Uncle Sam, Mickey Mouse, the Wicked Witch of the West from “The Wizard of Oz,” Superman, Santa Claus and more. These images look shimmery because diamond dust was applied before the ink dried.
The exhibit also includes the interactive installation “POP Art: The Andy Warhol Studio.”Attendees will be able to design an image and make it a silk screen print.
The Hardin Center is making the exhibit a food drive as well. By donating a non-perishable food item, visitors will be able to forgo the $1 fee to make a screen print.
“With Warhol famous for his Campbell’s Soup can paintings, we thought it would be a great way for a tie in for a food drive,” said Hardin Center Executive Director Bobby Welch. “You can bring any non-perishable food item, not just a Campbell’s Soup can.”
The “POP Art: The Andy Warhol Studio” also has a dress up area featuring costumes like the characters in some of Warhol’s paintings. An interactive video installation called “Silly Faces” creates five second videos of visitors making funny faces.The videos are added to a projection on the gallery wall that features a changing grid of faces. The fun activity lets anyone that visits become a part of the exhibit.
“This exhibit truly has something for everyone,” Welch said, “a chance to see original Warhol works and a chance for children to have a ‘hands on’ experience at making art.”
The exhibit is part of the Hardin Center’s 25th Anniversary that is sponsored by Exchange Bank and Advanced Imaging.
The exhibit itself is sponsored by the Serendipity Dance Club, Holiday Inn Express and Mrs. Julia Nolen, as well.
The exhibit is presented in partnership with the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh which created “POP Art: The Andy Warhol Studio.”
Although not opened yet, the exhibit has already garnered a lot of interest.
“The announcement that we are hosting an Andy Warhol exhibit as part of our 25th anniversary celebration generated as much or more interest than any exhibit we have hosted in our 25 year history,” said Welch.
For more information about the exhibit or Warhol’s life, go to www.culturalarts.org.