The Andy Warhol exhibit at the National Galleries was amazingly fun! It was one of the highlights thus far of my time in bonnie Scotland.
Silver Clouds: Best movie EVER! Playing with the balloons (until we got told off).
Details of the gallery: (This laundry list may not be of particular interest to anyone but myself. I'm recounting the exhibits so that I can remember what I saw that day.) The gallery's neoclassical ionic columns are obscured with stacks of six foot tall Campbell's soup cans, advertising the exhibition. Inside the museum was a room of oversized cases of canned goods (soup, heintz ketchup, Del Monte, apple juice, etc) and other household items like Brillo Pads.
In a corner room that we nearly overlooks was a Death and Disaster exhibit. Prints such as a tire on a foot, 'Gangster's Funeral,' an operating room scene with a doctor and a nun, and a man who was thrown from a car onto a telephone pole.
The largest room in the gallery was covered with cow wallpaper. There were prints of giant burgers, paratrooper boots, a large pistol, and Repent, Sinners! Everything was in multiples.
The skull room featured several prints of large, brightly coloured skulls. The shadow of the skull had the profile of a baby, encapsulating both birth and death. The wall paper of the skull room was the Washington monument.
The portrait room had brown walls and two of every portrait arranged in a chequerboard fashion. Portraits I recognized were Dolly Parton, Judy Garland and Liza Minelli. There was a cool one: Self Portrait (Strangulation).
Another room had the famous Marilyn screens. The screen print was adjacent to the brightly coloured painted print. Twenty five Jackie O's were on the opposite wall. There was a filmed portrait of Edie someone... basically a silent film of her face, slowed down so that each movement was noticeable. From her swinging chandelier earrings to her dramatic blinking eyes with long lashes. It was mesmerizing to watch.
The children's room had silvery fish wallpaper, and the prints were hung at the eye level of a young child. The images were prints of toy packaging. There was a display case with the actual toys and their boxes as well.
The last, and best, room upstairs was Silver Clouds. An empty room with a high ceiling and two rotating fans attached to the walls. Large silver balloons (the size and shape of pillows) were floating around, some near the ceiling, some on the ground. The sign instructed patrons to "Interact GENTLY with the Art." And that's what we did. For a long time.
Downstairs the first room had several ink drawings, many using a ball point pen. Some that I remember include Foot with Flowers and Butterflies, as well as many of boy's faces. There were also paintings of Mick Jagger and a few self-portraits.
In the next room were photographs. Ofthen there were six copies of the photo, stitched together with a sewing machine. One was the inside of a taxi (COUGH, SNEEZE), and one of Grace Jones being painted, tribal style.
The last room had a few nude photos, including one of a woman standing in a shell (like the Botticelli painting). There was a photo of a small dog next to a pool with an antenna headband on, and another of a boat on the ocean with a torso in the foreground. There were also several artifacts and knick knacks in display cases. One I liked in particular was a fan letter written to Andy Warhol, asking him to do a show in the UK. It started off: To Andy Warhol (if possible). The fan also asked if he knew Bob Dylan's address.
