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  Image: Andy Warhol, Liz, offset lithograph on paper |
Andy Warhol 'Andy Warhol' proves pop comes in more than one dimension By Jeanne Claire van
Ryzin "If you want to know all about Andy Warhol, just look at the surface; of my paintings and films and me, and there I am. There's nothing behind it." Perhaps the iconic pop artist liked to think of himself as one-dimensional. (And that would be so pop to do so.) But that's not how he comes through in the eclectic exhibit, "Andy Warhol," now on view through Nov. 9 at the Austin Museum of Art. Why Warhol, why Austin and why now? The show began as a print retrospective that was traveling the country. But then, because no major Warhol exhibit has ever been seen in Central Texas, the Austin Museum of Art folks secured more artworks from the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, the University of Texas Blanton Museum of Art and some private collections to make for a bigger show. Bringing together about 80 prints and paintings along with a selection of films and videos, the show manages to give a fairly good overview of Warhol's work (not an easy thing, given Warhol's prodigious output in so many different media) while also revealing what makes Warhol so important and influential. Chiefly, Warhol's enormous significance comes from the fact that he had something other pop artists did not: a dark side. The pop movement reveled in the superficiality of our consumer-oriented culture, embraced everything coolly ironic and rejected the heroism of the individual so important to previous generations of artists. And Warhol did that, too. He created an endless stream of prints and paintings of dollar bills and Campbell's soup cans, movie stars and cows. He hobnobbed with the rich and famous, the beautiful and infamous. And to prove his idea that the production of art was no different than mass production, he called his studio "The Factory." Yet for all the seeming glibness, Warhol was essentially anything but. Just take a look at "Disaster (Car Wreck)," a 1978 screenprint. Of course, the work is based on a photograph Warhol appropriated from the mass media (as he did in so much of his artwork). It's an image of a body crumpled within the mangled remains of a vehicle: a grisly record of a deadly Chicago collision involving two ambulances that were each transporting victims from other wrecks. And then there's the stark "Electric Chair," again an appropriated newspaper image, this one from 1953 showing the execution chamber at Sing Sing prison where convicted spies Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were sentenced to die. Warhol's trying to grapple with human tragedy here -- he's not mocking it. And his "Screen Tests" -- black-and-white silent films that slow down two minutes of footage into four-minute slow-motion images of personalities -- are eerily beautiful and affecting modern portraits that suggest enormous depth and complexity of each subject (the current exhibit features 20 "Screen Tests" in a continuous loop). So much for the impersonality of pop art. "I'm afraid that if you look at something long enough it loses all meaning," the master of bon mots once quipped. Luckily, that's not true of the current exhibit. jvanryzin@statesman.com; 445-3699 |
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 Image: Jan Heaton, Kewano Melon, watercolor |
Bold colors saturate Jan Heaton's 'Aqua Fresca' By Michael
Barnes Jan Heaton's watercolors define the term "eye candy." Not only does she saturate her handsome blocks of paper with candy-colored washes, Heaton's curly, loopy, overlapping configurations look good enough to eat. She starts with bioforms — cut melons, flowers, artichokes, fruit in sangria — then abstracts them just enough so that, within seconds, the viewer is drawn deep into the crevices between the soft lines and the gradations in the bleeding hues. The unabashed color mixtures may seem fluky, and now and then they are. "Sometimes accidents happen and decisions need to be made as to how to tell the story," Heaton says. She describes her art as: "A road trip with a map . . . but sometimes offering unexpected detours and discoveries to navigate." Framed and arranged with tender care at Wally Workman Gallery, these little — and large — bursts of pleasure are unfailingly attractive. Nevertheless, when Heaton moves away from reds, oranges, blues and greens, she appears less comfortable. The yellow-blacks in "Fragment IV" coalesce into a sophisticated, even reflective arrangement, but the beetlike bulbs in the "Farmers Market" series hover between reserved and robust coloration. Browns and grays do not seem welcome in this particular show. When in her element, witness the ravishing vortexes of "Thursday Roses," Heaton matches or exceeds the work of Austin's finest watercolorists. "Aqua Fresca" continues 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays through Oct. 4, Wally Workman Gallery, 1202 W. Sixth St., free, (framed art priced $650-$3,800) 472-7428. |
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 Ian and Amanda Lai discuss a photo entitled “El Tiempo del Quixote” at the f8 Fine Art Gallery in downtown Austin. This exhibit is part of First Saturday. On these days, Austin’s art community enjoys many different artists and their work in one evening. |
Austin: 'Artist Capital of the World'? By Joel
Weickgenant A group of art gallery owners in Austin have been working quietly to introduce local artists to the public in a city where the music scene grabs most of the attention. To call attention to the burgeoning visual arts scene in Austin, Galleries Austin, a collection of galleries, have put together an initiative they call First Saturday. Each first Saturday of the month, galleries coordinate their events, encouraging the public to visit a number of exhibits. Special events include talks with artists and exhibitions. The goal is for Austinites to walk away with a clearer idea of a visual arts scene that is large and thriving, organizers said. While the event has not always been on Saturday, the galleries have been working together for about three years, said Kathryn Davidson, associate director of Women and Their Work. "Austin is known as the Music Capital of the World, but we could be the Artist Capital of the World," Davidson said. Women and Their Work, located at 1710 Lavaca St., is one of a handful of galleries situated within a couple blocks of the UT campus. Davidson said the gallery is part of a statewide organization which focuses primarily on the work of Texan women. They regularly bring in nationally recognized artists and put a heavy emphasis on community outreach, she said. "Promoting Austin as an art destination is a cooperative effort." Davidson said. "We try to publicize as much as possible." Anastasia Budziszewski, associate director of D. Berman Gallery at 1701 Guadalupe St., emphasized the need for greater cooperation within the Austin visual arts scene. "We're so spread out around town," said Budziszewski about the distribution of art centers and museums in the Austin area. "By unifying, we're creating a more cohesive feeling of what's out there." Melissa Ladd, manager of the Guadalupe Arts Center, said First Saturday is a great opportunity for the artists to talk to the public about their work and for locales to promote ongoing exhibits. The center, located at 1705 Guadalupe St., rents out 40 artist studios. The artists then have a chance to exhibit their work in the center's gallery. Anyone within walking distance of the University could have started the afternoon on Saturday by attending a 1 p.m. "gallery talk" at the D. Berman gallery with Daphane Park and Virginia Fleck, whose work is on display until Sept. 13. Then at 2 p.m., a short walk around the block would bring the audience to Women and their Work, where Austin artist Diana Dobson talked about her photographic exhibit "Biota," also on display until the 13th. At 3 p.m., local artist Shawn Camp talked to the audience about his work at the Guadalupe Arts Center. Camp said his current exhibition features oil paintings loosely inspired by aerial photography. An important part of the discussion is centered around answering questions people have about the artists' work, Camp said. He has been in Austin since 1999, painting and teaching at Austin Community College and at Concordia University. "I really like living here [in Austin]," said Camp. "There's a lot of energy ... a real explosion of stuff. It's really inspiring." Camp said that there are a lot of good artists in the city but not as many buyers. Organizers want First Saturday to pique the public's interest in the artistic community that thrives in Austin, far away from the bars and music halls that have made the city famous. Budziszewski hopes that more galleries will become involved with the effort. Austin was named American Capital of Culture for 2004, the first U.S. city to be awarded the honor. When asked if the Austin visual arts scene might be on the verge of an explosion, Budziszewski said, "Absolutely." |
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 Image: Michael Barnes, The Strategy, lithograph, collograph |
One artist, one arts critic, one name By Michael
Barnes American-Statesman arts critic Michael Barnes viewed the prints in "Michael Barnes: Strange Things from Up North" just before its Slugfest Gallery opening. As the Illinois artist was in the room, the two Barneses talked as they looked at the lithographic tableaux of strange, tethered creatures that seemed to be stitched together from patchwork materials. Michael Barnes: Great name. Michael Barnes: Yeah. MB: Tell me about these pieces. MB: I work very spontaneously. I do a lot of action drawing in a notebook or small legal pad, working subconsciously during the first stages. MB: Do you ever create sculptures of these images before you draw? MB: I don't, but I've set up parts of objects to simulate things like shadows. I'll buy the belts, fabrics or other materials. But mostly it's right out of my head. MB: Makes you wonder what's in your head. MB: I'm not quite sure. They are responses to things that happened to me. The images change as the narrative builds up. It's a cumbersome process. MB: I see toylike objects, animals, primitive machines, missing limbs, all sorts of tethering, but also images of potential liberation — kites, balloons, balls. MB: The kites and balloons are recent additions. They're a lightening of the heart — becoming more cheerful. Many of the figures are literally bound, domesticated by some outside force. But there are some hopeful signs of escape. I also see them as clues in a larger narrative. MB: I have to ask, because you brought it up — are these images autobiographical? MB: I think there is a great deal of self-investigation here, but nothing specifically autobiographical. That would be scary. MB: And you draw right on the (lithographic) stone? MB: Yeah, it's usually processed in ink with 8 to 15 runs, so there are lots of almost transparent layers, similar to a glazing. MB: Goya comes to mind. Gorey. Any other influences? MB: Bosch. MB: I see that! MB: Also contemporary artists: (photographer) Joel-Peter Witkin, (figurative painter) Odd Nerdrum. MB: If I wanted a Michael Barnes on my wall, what would it run me? MB: $300-$800. MB: That's a great deal! mbarnes@statesman.com; 445-3647 |
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