On Display: The Warhol Experience

The Boca Raton Museum of Art (561-392-2500) celebrates the late great pioneer of pop art, Andy Warhol, with three new exhibitions opening January 26. Each spotlights a different side of this enigmatic artist, who blurred the line between life and art. After all, as Warhol once noted, everyone needs a fantasy.

   Find your fantasy first with “Warhol on Vinyl: The Record Covers, 1949-1987.” Warhol was a prolific cover album artist, and this exhibit features a selection of such works augmented with video and sounds. Then, get to know his infamous pension for partying with “Bob Colacello: In and Out with Andy.” Colacello’s intimate photographs captured Warhol’s frenetic Factory scene and the celebrities who moved in and out of his social circle.

   For a comprehensive view of Warhol’s output, check out the Warhol prints on loan from Boca Raton investor Marc Bell, who has been amassing his gallery for about a decade. Despite the colorful spirit of his collection, which includes pieces from Warhol’s Ads series, Bell’s first big art purchase was Ascending and Descending, a dark lithograph print by Dutch artist M.C. Escher. That acquisition led Bell to buy additional Escher images, but he knew he needed something vibrant to offset Escher’s dreary palette.

   “I used to own an Apple [computer] reseller in New York,” Bell explains. “There was an auction I was at, and they had the Apple print from [Warhol’s] Ads collection. I bought the Apple print, and I was like, ‘Wow, that looks pretty nice. It’s color. What else does Warhol make?’ And now, 100-plus Warhol prints later, it’s turned into quite a collection.”

   While Bell has previously lent his Escher catalog to the Boca Raton Museum of Art, this is the first time his expansive collection of Warhol silkscreen suites will be on display. More than anything, he is looking forward to sharing his acquisitions with the masses. “It’s not so much about buying and collecting it, but I believe art should be shared,” he says. “I get a lot of joy out of watching other people react to it.”

Beyond the Exhibition

In addition to its three Warhol exhibits, the Boca Raton Museum of Art will present a number of Warhol-centric events this month. Mark your calendar for:

January 24: “Bob Colacello: In and Out with Andy.” In this Boca Talk, Colacello explains the reality behind his photos and delves into the man behind the art.
January 28: “Chris Lopez: Screen Printing.” As part of the museum’s Artist at Work series, Lopez demonstrates how he uses silkscreen printing—a technique popularized by Warhol—to create wearable art.
January 30: Gala and After Party. D.J. Jellybean Benitez and performance artist Michael Israel will infuse the Boca Raton Museum of Art’s annual gala with the essence of Warhol’s factory.
January 31: “Consumption x Production.” The Warhol Museum’s director, Eric Shiner, joins this Boca Talk to discuss the social and economic milieu in which Warhol worked.

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