8 cool things about the new Andy Warhol exhibit at the Bechtler Museum

The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art’s new exhibition, “Pop to Now: Warhol and His Legacy,” looks backward and forward at the influence of Andy Warhol, a key figure in the Pop Art movement.

Across a variety of media, Warhol explored the links between advertising, celebrity culture and artistic expression. Known for his bright colored portraits and use of commercial techniques in art, he inspired other artists, including Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, whose work is also in the show.

Warhol helped reshape popular culture. This exhibition, developed by the Bechtler Museum in partnership with Aktion Art, focuses on Warhol’s work and impact post-1973. It runs through Jan. 2 at the uptown Charlotte museum.

“Warhol blew away most boundaries when it comes to what art was,” said Bechtler Museum Executive Direct Todd Smith, who recently gave The Charlotte Observer a guided tour of the exhibition, “and that’s what this show looks at, as well.”

The exhibition also highlights the creation of three ground-breaking contemporary artists: ThankYouX, Kristin McIver and HEES, who continue in Warhol’s footsteps, as they explore new digital frontiers in art.

Here are eight cool things to know about the show:

1. Warhol painted Bechtler family portraits

The inspiration behind the show comes from the upcoming 50th anniversary of the museum’s own eight portraits of the Bechtler family, painted by Warhol in his characteristic bright color palette, in 1973.

Warhol came to the family’s home in Zurich, and three generations of Bechtlers posed for the artist. Warhol painted them from life and later from Polaroid photos he took. (Although they are not currently on display, the Bechtler Museum also has the original Polaroids within its collection.)

2. A first for NC museums

Most of the more than 100 items on display are on loan from galleries, the artists themselves and private collections. Many come from the collection of former Warhol muse Jane Holzer. An actress and model, she appeared in several early Warhol films.

And some Warhol pieces have never before been displayed in an N.C. museum, according to the Bechtler, including a 1986 paint and collage on watercolor paper of Elvis Presley, a 1980 portrait of an unidentified woman with silkscreen ink, diamond dust and synthetic polymer paint on canvas and a 1974 portrait of a woman named Marina Ferrero of silkscreen and acrylic on canvas.

3. Spot the familiar faces

Part of the fun of the exhibition is seeing pop culture icons captured by Warhol in his artwork. Keep your eye out for images of celebrities from Elvis and Aretha Franklin to Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson, as well as those of Warhol himself.

Be sure, also, to catch the self-portrait of Basquiat on the right side of his large screenprint, “Hollywood Africans in front of the Chinese Theater with Footprints of Movie Stars.”

Basquiat, who got his start as a street artist, was a friend, colleague and, eventually, a rival of Warhol’s.

Smith said Basquiat was a big movie fan who had more than 1,000 VHS tapes of Hollywood films at his untimely death at age 27 in 1988. But he was always concerned about the lack of representation of African Americans in that medium. In this work, Basquiat and his friends are offering a critique by inserting themselves into the history of Hollywood.

There’s also a spot for snapping your own Instagrammable pics right in front of an image of celebrity handprints and footprints outside Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, the same iconic location referenced by Basquiat. The Instagram station is also sandwiched between giant Elvis images on Warhol-designed wallpaper.

4. Spot unfamiliar faces too

In contemporary artist McIver’s work, you may not recognize the faces but they are there, represented in blocks of color, drawn from data interpretations of several Warhol portraits. She distills the works down to their essence, Smith said. Like Warhol, she uses her art to explore celebrity and self in the context of consumer culture.

She also employs the same color palette as Warhol’s famous 1964 Marilyn Monroe series.

5. Cool connections

The exhibition is full of fascinating connections between the artists and subjects in their works. Take Warhol, Basquiat and Haring’s relationship, for example.

“These artists were working together,” Smith said. “They were collaborating, they were playing off of each other.” You can see this in their canvases as well as the memorabilia on display.

There are other links, too. For instance, Bruno Bischofberger, the gallery owner in Zurich who introduced the Bechtlers to Warhol, later Introduced Basquiat to Warhol.

Among the memorabilia on display at “Pop to Now” is a Warhol image of Debbie Harry, the lead singer of the band Blondie. Harry was also the first person to purchase a work by Basquiat in 1981. She paid $200. (For reference, in 2017 a Basquiat painting sold for $110.5 million.)

Like Basquiat and Haring, the artist known as ThankYouX (his real name is Ryan Wilson), got his start as a street artist. His pseudonym comes from the graffiti images that launched his career in Los Angeles.

In homage to Warhol, he painted huge stenciled reproductions around the city of the pop artist’s self-portraits and signed them anonymously, “ThankYouX.” As the images grew in popularity, the name stuck.

6. NFTs 101

Artists have always embraced new technology, Smith said. In the past couple years, that includes artists creating work online that exists only digitally, through NFTs (non-fungible tokens).

“ThankYouX is one of the pioneers in digital art,” Smith said.

He’s also known as one of the first creators of “Phigital”— physical combined with digital — art. His abstract paintings on display come with a little embedded screen that features a digital artwork, an NFT that comes with its own unique address on the block chain.

The exhibition also includes two projection rooms showing a series of NFTs from ThankYouX, and HEES, set to music.

7. Music plays a big role

Warhol’s impact on pop culture is highlighted in the exhibition through all sorts of memorabilia. A trademark of the Bechtler collection is displaying artwork with context.

“Beause the family knew most of the artists, they collected a lot of the archival material that went along with the artists in the exhibitions,” Smith said. “So we wanted this show to bring some of that in for Warhol and Basquiat, as well.”

Among the highlights in “Pop to Now” is a wall of album covers: 24 by Warhol, two by Basquiat, and one by Haring. It includes just a small sampling of the hundreds of album covers that feature Warhol artwork. Look closely, and you’ll also see that Liza Minnelli autographed her album cover.

In the geometric artwork of HEES, music also plays a significant role. His paintings share the expressive, graffiti-style of Basquiat. Note, too, the images of a floating guitar in photos of various landscapes at the back of the HEES projection room. The actual guitar, which HEES has dubbed “Stevie,” is also on display in the exhibition.

8. Something for all ages

Smith said the exhibit holds interest for people of all ages

“If you’re a 7-year-old kid and your life is all-around about a screen, there’s something here. If you’re of my generation and you remember seeing Warhols in the flesh for the first time, 50 years ago, there’s something for you too…

“It’s a tough order sometimes for a show of modern and contemporary art to be able to appeal across generations and across interest levels,” he added. “But we think this show has gotten there.”

Want to go?

“Pop to Now: Warhol and His Legacy,” at the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art

Now through Jan. 2, fourth floor gallery; 420 S. Tryon St., Charlotte

Ticket information: bechtler.org

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