Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, University of California (BAM/PFA) present Andy Warhol: Polaroids / MATRIX 240 on view January 27–May 20, 2012.
Andy Warhol: Frau Buch, 12/1980; Polacolor 2; 4-1/4 x 3-3/8 in.; gift of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
From 1970 to 1987 Andy Warhol took scores of Polaroid photographs, the vast majority of which were never seen by the public. These images often served as the basis for his commissioned portraits, silk-screen paintings, drawings, and prints. BAM/PFA is proud to present forty selected Polaroids drawn from an extraordinary gift of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts to the museum. Armed with his Polaroid Big Shot camera, Warhol captured a wide range of individuals—royalty, rock stars, executives, artists, patrons of the arts, and athletes who epitomized 1970s and 1980s high society. The selection for this exhibition reveals that superstars were not the only figures that Warhol photographed. Over half of those who sat for him were little known or remain unidentified. Seen all together, the Polaroids destabilize the iconic status that a Warhol image assumes when displayed singly. On its own, a Polaroid image is fully identified with the artwork that ultimately grew out of it; the face depicted becomes a kind of signifier for larger cultural concepts of beauty, power, and worth.
Andy Warhol: Polaroids is organized by Curatorial Intern Fabian Leyva-Barragan and Assistant Curator Stephanie Cannizzo. Special thanks to The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts for making this exhibition possible.
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