Andy Warhol Archives

ARTIST ROOMS

This month we will be visiting the long-awaited ARTIST ROOMS exhibition at the Gallery of Modern Art to see the work of Vija Celmins, Ellen Gallagher, Damien Hirst, Alex Katz, Andy Warhol and Francesca Woodman.

ARTIST ROOMS is an extraordinary collection of international contemporary art recently acquired jointly by the National Galleries of Scotland and Tate through the donation of over 700 works from Anthony d’Offay which will tour a wide range of museums and galleries across the UK. At the heart of ARTIST ROOMS is the concept of individual rooms devoted to particular artists, so that their work can be seen and appreciated in depth.

Highlights of the exhibition on show at the Gallery of Modern Art include Celmin’s beautiful, delicate images of seas, deserts and the night sky; a complete series of landscape and portrait paintings by the American painter Alex Katz; Francesca Woodman’s intimate, surrealist-influenced photographs; and Damien Hirst’s iconic Away from the Flock – an early example of Hirst’s animals in formaldehyde.

Joining us to discuss the works will be Keith Hartley, Chief Curator at the Gallery of Modern Art. Keith was instrumental in negotiating with Anthony d’Offay to secure this important acquisition so it will be a fascinating insight into how it all came about.

Bank of Scotland totalART Andy Warhol: A Celebration of Life . . . And Death

This is the second major exhibition of works by Andy Warhol to be staged in Edinburgh within the last two years. While Andy Warhol: Self-Portraits, held at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (SNGMA) in 2005, was devoted to only one of Warhol’s intriguing subject matters, Andy Warhol: A Celebration of Life . . . and Death spans four decades and encompasses his eclectic style.

This major retrospective, curated by Keith Hartley, Chief Curator and Acting Director of the SNGMA, is a rare opportunity to meet Warhol through his work in illustration, printmaking, photography, sculpture, painting and film. Unless you are fortunate to visit Warhol’s museum in Pittsburgh, youll find it hard to source such a well curated exhibition.

Whether you admire or loathe the work of Warhol, there is no escaping his influence on twentieth-century western culture.

For this event, we are going to explore the exhibition in a random style with a slight twist to our usual proceedings. Meeting us part of the way will be the art historian and critic, Jean Wainwright, a leading authority on Warhol who recently completed her PhD on Warhols audio recordings.