Andy Warhol is still alive, and fully present in Paris with two major exhibitions: Warhol TV until May 3th 2009 at Maison Rouge and "Le Grand Monde d'Andy Warhol"until 17 July 2009 at Le Grand Palais.
While Warhol TV explores the relationship between the artist and Television, "Le Grand Monde d'Ady Warhol" reveals 250 portraits of celebrities, and anonymous clients. “The faces are ugly and a shade stoned, if not actually repulsive and grotesque,” wrote The New York Times in 1979 about the Whitney Museum's first exhibition of portraits by the master. Warhol responded only that the canvases were the same size “so they’ll all fit together and make one big painting called Portraits of Society. This is a brilliant answer to face easy criticism. 30 years later this exhibition celebrates Warhol as a portraitist which shows that he was not grotesque.
Judith Benhamou-Huet, French freelance journalist and curator of Warhol TV agreed to answer Art is Alive questions :
How is this exhibition born ? Can you explain us what the leitmotiv of this exhibition was ?
I've been interested in Warhol for a long time. It's the only area of the artist that hasn't really been explored and that's what I was interested in. The leitmotiv behind the exhibition is the fact that this side of the artist wasn't really known before.
There is a second big exhibition of Warhol at Le Grand Palais ? Is it on purpose or is it a coincidence ?
Not at all. It's the Pittsburgh's Warhol Museum who asked us to organize joint exhibitions.
This exhibition follows an exhibition at the Hayward Gallery in London, which took place last year; is it the same exhibition ?
This is a totally different exhibition.
To finish with, what do you wish to this blog ?
Art is Alive will help to get more and more people interested in art. It's a good sign for the world. I just created my own blog too : http://blogs.lesechos.fr/, check it out !
Thanks Judith for your time.
To learn more: http://www.lamaisonrouge.org/ and http://www.grandpalais.fr/
