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Robert Indiana and Andy Warhol exhibit opens Sept. 24 at ISU
Learn why Robert Clark renamed himself after his home state and Andy Warhol took so many photographs in the exhibition "Love and Fame: Works by Robert Indiana and Andy Warhol from Indiana State University's Permanent Art Collection."
On display from Sept. 24 through Oct. 26 in the University Gallery, the exhibition consists of 10 large screenprints by Robert Indiana from his 1971 "Decade" portfolio and 80 color Polaroid portraits (studies for paintings) and black and white photographs of famous people and friends by Andy Warhol.
In 2007, Indiana State was one of 184 university galleries or museums to receive more than 150 Warhol photographs from the Warhol Foundation's Andy Warhol Photographic Legacy Program. The exhibition also includes two iconic Warhol prints, Flowers (1965) and Chairman Mao (1972). The exhibition reception, Monday, Sept. 24, from 4 to 6 pm, is free and open to the public.
Why Love and Fame? In 1964, Indiana created his iconic "LOVE" image for a Museum of Modern Art Christmas card. Four years later Andy Warhol famously said "In the future, everyone will be world famous for 15 minutes." By the early 1970s the LOVE image was everywhere - as sculpture, paintings, prints, jewelry, clothing, and a postage stamp. It is now considered the most plagiarized American work of art. Warhol's quote was, and still is, often repeated, and anyone who was anyone began flocking to him for a portrait by the late 1960s.
Works in the exhibition span the years 1965 to 1986, one year before Warhol's death. Warhol's photographs allow viewers to embody his vision, especially considering that cameras accompanied him everywhere and became an extension of his eye and persona. Visitors may be surprised to learn that Indiana's Decade screenprints are not superficial Pop Art signs but rather self-portraits that chronicle memories and events of his upbringing in Indiana.
Among the highlights of the exhibition are: Warhol Polaroids of Truman Capote, Dracula, Maria Shriver, and Carly Simon; Indiana's screenprints "Black and White Love" and "Terre Haute No. 2;" and early photographs of Warhol and Indiana by William John Kennedy. The exhibition includes vintage album covers featuring Warhol paintings and Warhol's favorite camera, a 1971 Polaroid Big Shot.
The exhibition and lectures are free and open to the public.
The University Art Gallery is located in the Richard G. Landini Center for Performing and Fine Arts at 300 N. Seventh Street. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Thursday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and, for Art Day, Saturday Oct. 13, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For free group or school tours contact Jason Saavedra at 812-237-3720.