Thomas Merton, a poet, social activist, and monk, among other roles, once said, “art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.” Art is such an integral part of our culture, whether it’s found in our communities, our households, or even our schools. The Warholx5 exhibit is a collaborative project, and three SUNY art museums are involved with the hopes of sharing art with their students and communities.
The exhibit, named Warholx5, is a presentation of five overlapping exhibitions that will be on view between January and November 2018. The three SUNY college art museums include the Neuberger Museum of Art at Purchase College, the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at SUNY New Paltz, and the University Art Museum at the University at Albany. Two private colleges will also host the exhibit: the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center at Vassar College and The Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College.
Drawing upon one another’s collections, each museum will explore a unique aspect or theme of Warhol’s work. The exhibitions will feature works donated by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts as well as other works by Warhol in the museums’ collections. Through collaboration, sharing resources among five museums will allow each venue to develop and expand on themes related to their own Andy Warhol holdings. In addition, joint programming and curriculum opportunities for each of the participating campuses will be provided.
One of the curriculum opportunities in the Warhol x 5 exhibition series is a symposium that will be held on April 12-13, 2018 at SUNY New Paltz. The symposium will focus on the history and significance of approaches to exhibiting Andy Warhol’s work. A major portion of the funding to make the “Displaying Warhol: Exhibition as Interpretation” symposium possible was provided by a State University of New York Conversations in the Disciplines grant, with additional contributions from the participating campuses.
Interested in taking in the art and inspiration that is Andy Warhol for yourself? If so, here’s some good news for you: all five venues are open to the public and free of charge! Visit the museum websites for full info.
