If you can’t decide whether to be Marilyn Monroe or Lady Gaga for Halloween, have no fear, because you can be both this year.
Another opportunity to dress up as Marilyn Monroe has presented itself at the Chazen Museum of Art. The Andy Warhol Photographic Studies exhibit opened on Oct. 9 and will be up and running until Dec. 5. This Friday at 5:30 p.m. Professor Reva Wolf will be giving a lecture on Warhol’s impact in the artistic world with a reception following. Dressing up like Warhol or any celebrity from Warhol’s prints will not only create an entertaining Friday night, but will be celebrated with party favors.
The actual photographic exhibit is a rare commodity that should be taken advantage of. Warhol has created tens of thousands of photographs throughout his life, and the Chazen Musem was allotted over 100 of those Polaroid pictures and black-and-white gelatin silver prints. In case you’re unacquainted with the legend of Warhol, he became famous for his development of the pop art fad, which is demonstrated with a giant canvas of red, green and yellow hues manipulated to create the notorious Marilyn Monroe image. Warhol was a unique artist who used his Polaroid pictures to inspire his paintings and other pop art pieces.
Marilyn Monroe is not the only celebrity to cross paths with Warhol. There are Polaroid pictures of Princess Ashraf Pahlavi of Iran, actress Lorna Luft and business woman Pia Miller in this exhibit as well. Perhaps the most recognized name in this collection is Dolly Parton. Her picture was taken in 1985 before her affection for plastic surgery took its toll on her physical appearance.
Athletes such as professional basketball player Kareem Abdul Jabbar and baseball player Tom Seaver also found their way into this collection, posing with objects representative of their sports. All these Polaroid pictures are posed from the shoulders up. The girls are often presented shirtless or with tube tops to show off their bare shoulders. The men are put in simple clothes that do not cause much distraction. This prevents anyone from focusing on the fashion of the time, and to instead look at the actual features of the person’s face.
Although Warhol’s work with celebrities is well known, he did not by any means stay focused on Hollywood life. The majority of the Polaroid pictures presented in this collection are of people identified as ‘unknown’ and they’re presented with the same level of effort as the photographs of the celebrities. Warhol shows no bias in the subject of his pieces and carries the same themes throughout each portrait. A curious habit that shows up again and again in Warhol’s photographs is his penchant for brunettes.
Not only did he prefer to photograph these brown-haired bombshells, but he complements their hair color with a bright lipstick and a white powder to create a ghost like skin tone, drawing even more attention to the the subject’s features, causing the hair, eyes and lips of the subject to jump out.
There was even a picture of what looked like 12- or 13-year-old brunette girl that mimicked the same style.
The most amazing aspect of this collection is what it represents as a whole. Each individual piece is something to be admired, but when all of Warhol’s pieces are put together it’s like looking at a photographic journal.
The majority of the people who are posed in these Polaroid pictures had some sort of relationship with Warhol – granted there were a few strangers who were lucky enough to be randomly selected for these historical photographs – and many of the pictures are presented with a brief explanation of who they were and how they came to know Warhol.
There is a large representation of many different categories of people that correlates with the many different groups Warhol opened himself to. There are even candid photos of the city and random people on the street that share moments of Warhol’s life. Throughout the whole collection there are only two pictures that do not have any people in them. It seems Warhol’s fascination with people has created a form of art that has left a strong impression among many contemporary artists.
Marilyn Monroe, Diana Ross, Jane Fonda, John Lennon, Liza Minelli, Mick Jagger, Muhammad Ali, Sylvester Stallone and Truman Capote may not all be features in the Chazen Museum of Art, but are all acceptable costume ideas for this Friday.
