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'Interview' exhibit focuses on Andy Warhol's media empire

Paul Guggenheimer
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AP
In this 1976 file photo, pop artist Andy Warhol smiles in New York.

When people think of Andy Warhol, they usually consider his innovative works of art. But Warhol was constantly looking for a variety of ways to express himself and tell stories about and talk with the celebrities he surrounded himself with.

A new exhibition opening Saturday at The Andy Warhol Museum looks at Warhol the media mogul.

“Andy Warhol’s Social Network: Interview, Television and Portraits” looks at a cross-section between Warhol’s longest running project, Interview magazine; his television shows, “Fashion, Warhol TV” and “Warhol’s Fifteen Minutes”; and his portraits of famous and influential people.

“It shows you Warhol is really tapping into a slice of young culture and being ahead of it somehow,” said the museum’s chief curator Jessica Beck. It’s also an outgrowth of Warhol’s fascination with celebrities.

The centerpiece of the exhibition is the 204 issues of Interview magazine published from 1969 to 1987, the year Warhol died. It was his longest running venture and continues to this day. Displayed in chronological order, the Warhol’s permanent collection of the magazine has never been shown in its entirety.

“What I find fascinating is the early magazine (produced in black and white) has this underground film influence,” Beck said. “It also has a cross between these ’60s magazines at the beginning of Rolling Stone but also pornographic undertones to it as well.”

But then the magazine underwent a drastic change to the format that attracted many people to Interview — readers as well as subjects.

“In the ’70s, Warhol’s social network is changing and he’s getting more connected with the fashion world — Halston, Liza Minnelli, Bianca Jagger, and you see these more dynamic covers,” Beck said.

To create those dynamic covers, Warhol turned to fellow artist Richard Bernstein who became a central figure in the New York social scene and the club culture of Studio 54. He and Warhol met at Bernstein’s first solo exhibition in 1965, according to his nephew Rory Trifon, president of the Richard Bernstein estate.

“A lot of Richard’s paintings were inspired by Warhol, and the two hit it off,” Trifon said.

Bernstein worked at Interview magazine for 15 years between 1972 and 1989, creating more than 120 portraits for the magazine cover. He worked off of black-and-white photos and created vibrant color images or collages that were eye popping, jumping off the large format magazine’s front page.

Seventy of the covers are featured in a second floor gallery.

Trifon explained that the process would begin with Bernstein cropping a 16-inch by 20-inch photo that he would proceed to blow up, air brush and then paint in the colors. Bernstein knew all of these celebrities just like Warhol did. So he knew what colors to use for their skin tone, hair and eyes.

“Richard would use blush, pencil, just a lot of different technique went into it,” Trifon said. “What I find fascinating is the amount of trust that each individual photographer (had). They didn’t want someone just to paint over their (portrait), but they entrusted Richard to do a phenomenal job. And obviously Andy Warhol entrusted Richard to do an amazing job on the covers. When you saw Interview magazine on the newsstands, it would really shine and pop out.”

Bernstein’s portraits ranged from Cher, Diana Ross, Olivia Newton-John and Minelli to Brat Pack stars like Rob Lowe and Molly Ringwald.

Other famous people on the cover include Twiggy, Farah Fawcett, Ali MacGraw, Michael Jackson, Brooke Shields, Joan Rivers, Jane Fonda, Faye Dunaway, Nastassja Kinski, and John McEnroe.

In addition to being aesthetically pleasing, the magazine, which wasn’t making money in the beginning, eventually became profitable, attracting major advertisers such as liquor companies, fur and jewelry companies, and makeup and perfume companies.

Warhol did many of the interviews for the magazine that he recorded on audio cassettes.

“What’s really interesting is Warhol didn’t like to overedit the interviews,” Beck said. “He was adamant that things should be as they were in the conversation.”

Television

Warhol was intensely interested in doing video interviews as well, which led to the television shows, “Fashion, Warhol TV” and “Warhol’s Fifteen Minutes.”

“Warhol TV” debuted in 1979. The first episode featured an interview with Debbie Harry, lead singer of the band Blondie along with the band’s co-founder and guitarist Chris Stein.

The show opens with video of Warhol doing a photo shoot with Harry, who is wearing a revealing black outfit as the song “Call Me” plays in the background. Then the interview begins with rock columnist Lisa Robinson asking the questions.

There are reaction shots of Warhol, but he doesn’t say anything until nearly three minutes into the show when he asks a question about them considering recording an album in which one song is performed in different styles.

The show lasted for two seasons. The pilot episode is a fascinating time capsule.

Episodes of “Fashion, Warhol TV” are available to watch on the museum’s second floor along with those of “Warhol’s Fifteen Minutes,” which was eventually picked up by MTV. It aired there from 1985 until Warhol’s death in 1987.

On this show, Warhol turned the interview format on its head a bit with celebrities interviewing celebrities.

For example, one episode in the middle of the first season features Warhol and Bianca Jagger interviewing Steven Spielberg, who is sitting on a bed. Just before the opening credits roll, Warhol is seen running straight at the camera in slow motion.

The show begins with a clip from the movie “Poltergeist” and the three discuss “ghost images” that used to show up on televisions with antennas pickup up distant signals. Spielberg discussed growing up devising ways to scare his sisters, such as showing up at a window with a flashlight under his face.

The conversation shifted to the Spielberg movie “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” which Jagger says she was “very touched by” before Warhol chimes in with, “We all cried.”

Warhol asks Spielberg about working with actors. He responds by saying he’d like to work with actor George C. Scott because “he’s different in every movie he does.”

The informal nature of the show must have thrown people for a loop back then. Another example of Warhol being ahead of his time.

“What’s interesting about this is Warhol starts out just making it in his office, in his studio, or around town in New York City, whether it be Studio 54 or someone’s house,” Beck said. “But then it slowly gets more and more produced. When MTV comes in and picks up production, then it becomes highly produced.

“The final episode was footage from Warhol’s funeral.”

There is a lot to see with the exhibition “Andy Warhol’s Social Network: Interview, Television and Portraits.” So, visitors will want to make sure to set aside enough time to take it all in.

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