Flaunt Megazine / Constanza Falco Raez
NeueHouse and Fotografiska present Andy Warhol: Photo Factory, a never before exhibited collection of rare Warhol Photographs, on view at NeueHouse Hollywood from June 16 to July 9, 2021. The incredibly comprehensive survey features over 120 images—20 of which have never been seen before—of Warhol’s photographic oeuvre. With four films from Warhol’s private Screen Tests series—Archie and George with Coca Cola, Lou Reed, Edie Sedgwick and Kipp Stagg, and Freddy Last Dance—shown throughout the exhibition, the show allows for an intimate view of the artist’s life and work. Andy Warhol: Photo Factory is the largest West Coast exhibition of Warhol photography to date, with many of the images kept in a private collection until now.
Additionally, NeueHouse and Fotografiska have created Photo Factory After Hours, a new event series to celebrate the groundbreaking exhibition. The lineup of events will offer live music, art, dance, conversations, and exclusive screenings of rare Warhol films. Beginning Thursday, June 17th, and recurring throughout the exhibition’s run, prepare yourself to understand Warhol’s fascination with photography and his practice of capturing successive moments in time.
BANANAS, 1977-78. Polacolor Type 108. © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.
“Warhol was as restless as he was relentless and shortly after he took up film, he picked up his own cameras: Polaroids and nifty little point-and-shoots. All of Warhol’s silk-screened and painted portraits, both commissioned and otherwise, were based on his Polaroids. His sitters included an ever-changing pantheon of pop celebrities, from Dolly Parton to Keith Haring, Jane Fonda to Pele, as well as a gaggle of New York drag queens and a host of pretty boys only too happy to take their clothes off for the camera.” said curator, writer, and photography critic, Vince Aletti, who authored the text for Andy Warhol: Photo Factory.
Curated and produced in collaboration with international photography museum Fotografiska, Hedges Projects, and Jack Shainman Gallery, the exhibition will preview at NeueHouse Hollywood before traveling to Fotografiska New York this Fall, and on to Fotografiska Stockholm and Tallinn in 2022 and 2023.
Flaunt had the opportunity to talk to Jim R. Hedges IV, who lent his private collection for the show. Read below and visit the exhibition, open today!
JONES, GRACE, 6/1984. Polaroid Type SX-70. © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.
How did you come to collect these works?
I first began collecting photography in the early 1990’s as I moved from graduate school to Paris. My initial works were classical photographs, but in time, thanks to my interest in Warhol’s world, especially that of Interview Magazine, I began to look at the artist’s body of film-based works. Initially, I was focused solely on his iconic Polaroid images of celebrity portrait subjects. In time, I began to appreciate the breadth of his photography even more, not merely as source material, but as a means of his artistic expression more generally. Examining his silver gelatin prints made the last ten years of Warhol’s life (1977-1987) gave me a renewed interest in the artist’s friends, travels and day-to-day. Ultimately, it remains his stitched photographs, assembled in grid-formation of identical silver gelatin prints, that made me appreciate the apex of both his photography and artistic practice.
What is your connection to Warhol?
As I mentioned earlier, my initial connection was from my childhood exposure to Interview Magazine and the demimonde it depicted. However, as a collector of contemporary art, it is impossible to not garner appreciation and engagement with Warhol’s works as well as the works of those he influenced. Thanks to a dear friend who formerly served as a Trustee of The Andy Warhol Foundation of the Visual Arts was I able to meet the genius Executive Director, Joel Wachs, and was subsequently afforded the opportunity to acquire works directly from The Foundation. And at that moment, my connection became much deeper to the full extent of Warhol’s works.
What do you love the most about Warhol as an artist?
To me, there is an Andy Warhol for every collector. The breadth of his subject matter, his canonical selection of images from pop culture, and the mystery with which he approaches many of his subjects have proven to be bottomless sources of inspiration.
What can we expect from the photography in the exhibition?
The NeueHouse exhibition, created in partnership with Fotografiska, affords the viewers an encyclopedic overview of Warhol’s photo-based works spanning four decades and six bodies of work. It is, indeed, the most comprehensive exhibition of Warhol’s photographs, beautifully presented in both chronological and thematic ways for viewers to both learn more about his photography practice but to also garner a deeper appreciation of his skills.
How has been working with NeueHouse and Fotografiska?
Both institutions are committed to excellence and insight for their constituents. It has been a pleasure to work with both organizations, and I am looking forward to a long-term partnership for not only this exhibition, but also future opportunities.
And tell us about the work NeueHouse is doing.
By offering members a space to build community and engage in thought-provoking content, NeueHouse creates a home for connections to be made and culture to progress. To reflect this mission, NeueHouse has launched Salon, a new membership program which offers the most flexible access to all NeueHouse locations to date. Salon members receive priority access to programming, events and reservations such as the Warhol exhibit.