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Best known as a painter and filmmaker, Andy Warhol also was a prolific photographer.

Best known as a painter and filmmaker, Andy Warhol also was a prolific photographer.

Bringing together moments of his art, work and life, a new exhibition opening Oct. 2 at the Ackland Art Museum, on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will include about 250 Polaroids and 70 gelatin silver black-and-white prints that Warhol took between 1970 and 1987. 

The exhibition, “Big Shots: Andy Warhol Polaroids,” will be at the Ackland through Jan. 2, running concurrently with two more exhibitions that showcase the art of portraiture.

“Counterlives” presents 19 works by 14 artists who explore the current age of reproduced portraits, many of which are inventions filled with curiosities and contradictions.

“Enduring Likeness” comprises 15 artworks from the Renaissance to the 20th century that explore two forms of portraiture: one that strives for human likeness, to make a claim for lasting memory and stand outside of time, and another that foregrounds the artist’s signature style, sometimes at the expense of a true likeness of the sitter.

The three exhibitions are made possible by the William Hayes Ackland Trust, the John and Mary P. Redwine Trust and the generosity of friends of the Ackland. Related events are listed below.

“The Ackland’s presentation of the Warhol exhibition considers the Polaroids on display as intertwined parts of an artistic whole, as part of his creative process, and presents them against black-and-white snapshots captured in his leisure time,” said Jennie Carlisle of the Ackland.

“Seen together, this critical mass of photos allows for exceptional glimpses into Warhol’s working methods as well as his personal perspective on the New York scene of the ’70s and ’80s,” she said.

“Big Shots” is organized by the Ackland, the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University and the Weatherspoon Art Museum at UNC-Greensboro. In 2008, all three received gifts of Polaroid photos and gelatin silver black-and-white prints from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts in celebration of its 20th anniversary.

“Counterlives” presents portraiture from the 1970s to the present.

“‘Counterlives’ explores portraiture in the contemporary age,” said Cary Levine, exhibition curator and assistant professor of contemporary art history at UNC. “The 14 artists in this exhibition represent a global village of hybridized personas and unfixed personalities, each inseparably bound up in contemporary mass media and its intricate entanglements of fact and fiction, the real and the fake.”

Works by Cindy Sherman, Barkley Hendricks and Nikki S. Lee, for example, raise issues of gender and race construction in a media-saturated culture, Levine said: “Elizabeth Peyton’s painterly rendering of Kurt Cobain and Gary Lee Boas’ fan photos of ’70s celebrities reframe ideas of celebrity worship and superficiality.”

“‘Enduring Likeness’ explores the history of portraiture’s double nature as both the record of fame and the site of artistic agency,” said exhibition curator Robert Colby, coordinator of academic programs at the Ackland. “The exhibition includes examples from the Renaissance to the age of Andy Warhol and explores the power of portraits TO create lasting renown and manufacture celebrity. ‘Enduring Likeness’ asks the viewer to consider the role of the artist in this enterprise and the delicate balance of objectives the portrait represents.”

The Ackland, on South Columbia Street near Franklin Street, opens from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursdays; and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays. Admission is free. For more information, call (919) 966-5736 or visit www.ackland.org.

Events for the exhibitions, all open to the public, will be:

ArtNow/CinemaNow Film Series. Films by Warhol and others evoking his New York City scene, curated by Richard C. Cante, associate professor of media and cultural studies in the UNC communication studies department. Free. Unless otherwise noted, the films will start at 7 p.m. at the Varsity Theater on Franklin Street and be preceded by a related talk at 6 p.m. at the Ackland. The films will be as follows:

  • Nov. 18: “Chelsea Girls,” Warhol, 1966. Preceded by tours of the exhibitions with Peter Nisbet, Ackland’s chief curator, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
  • Nov. 20: “Midnight Cowboy,” John Schlesinger, 1969.
  • Dec. 2: “Basquiat,” Julian Schnabel, 1996.
  • Dec. 4: “Empire,” Warhol, 1964, 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. with live music accompaniment. “Empire” is a single, eight-hour film of the Empire State Building in continuous slow-motion footage, starting at sunset.

Art and Literature in the Galleries, Nov. 18, 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. “Big Shots” and Truman Capote’s “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” Visitors may read the classic book in advance, then see the art and join in discussions.
Dec. 16, 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., a similar event for “Counterlives: and Philip Roth’s book “The Counterlife.”

Free to Ackland members, high school students and UNC students, faculty and staff who present One Cards. $5 for others. Registration required. E-mail aportnow@email.unc.edu.

Ackland Art Ventures for Kids. Saturdays, 10:30 a.m. to noon. Free:

  • Oct. 16: “Marvelous Mobiles”
  • Oct. 23: “What’s in My Portrait?”
  • Nov. 6: “Look at That Tree”
  • Dec. 4: “From Pointillism to Pixels”
  • Dec. 11: “If I Could Be …”

Children aged 6 to 9 experience art in the galleries, then explore related artistic techniques and ideas as they create take-home treasures. Taught by Tamela Davis, a National Board Certified teacher of early-middle childhood art, and other educators, each session offers children hands-on opportunities to investigate various art forms and experiment with different materials. Space limited, registration required. Fee per class $15 for Ackland members, $25 for non-members; Three or more classes paid in advance, $12 for members, $23, non-members. E-mail bethsmcguire@unc.edu.

Community Day, Nov. 27, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Free. Hands-on activities and performances by local artists will offer myriad ways to enjoy time with family, friends and art. In the spirit of Andy Warhol, make a silkscreen print. Explore patterns and materials through a scavenger hunt in the galleries. Visitors of all ages will discover the many choices that artists make as they create their works.

Images from the exhibitions:
“Big Shots”:
Andy Warhol, American, 1928 – 1987: “Bianca Jagger,” 1979, Polacolor Type 108: http://uncnews.unc.edu/images/stories/news/arts/2010/bianca%20jpeg.jpg

Warhol: “Dorothy Hamill,” 1977, Polacolor Type 108: http://uncnews.unc.edu/images/stories/news/arts/2010/dorothy%20jpg.jpg

Gifts of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

“Counterlives”: Robert Bergman, American, born 1944. “Untitled no. 37,” 1989, Chromogenic print: http://uncnews.unc.edu/images/stories/news/arts/2010/37copyrightrobert_bergman.jpg

Collection of Allen Thomas Jr., Wilson, N.C., Copyright by Robert Bergman, 1989. All rights reserved. Courtesy of Robert Bergman and Yossi Milo Gallery.

“Enduring Likeness”: Julia Margaret Cameron, British, 1815-1879. “Thomas Carlyle from Life,” 1867, Albumen print:
http://uncnews.unc.edu/images/stories/news/arts/2010/cameron.jpg

Ackland Fund.

Ackland Art Museum contact: Emily Bowles, (919) 843-3675, esbowles@email.unc.edu
News Services contact: LJ Toler, (919) 962-8589

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