Tuesday, February 12, 5:30-7:30PM
“High Trash”: East Gallery
The earth’s environment is undergoing massive man-made and natural changes. Climate shifts, mass extinctions, clean water shortages, the threat of peak oil, extreme weather — all are familiar issues in the 21st century. These issues, and their implications, are inspiring a growing number of visual artists who not only address them in their work, but also use cast-off materials, trash, and the detritus of our culture as their medium. While neither the subject nor the use of found materials is new, this exhibition looks at a new generation of artists, across the US and beyond, that feels an increasing urgency to address issues of environmental degradation and sustainability. Included in the exhibition are Chakaia Booker, Tim Hawkinson, Dan Colen, Bright Eke, Tom Deininger, Max Liboiron, Vik Muniz, and Sayaka Ganz, among others. The artists create visually compelling works that transcend their original source material and speak to the wider concerns of waste, ecology, and humans’ place on this planet.
“Andy Warhol’s Athletes”: Wolcott Gallery
On view is a group of ten canvases by Andy Warhol, entitled the “Athlete” Series, commissioned in 1977 by Richard Weisman, a banker and friend of Warhol’s. Weisman was a fan of both the arts and sports and had often noted that although both were popular leisure-time activities, they rarely crossed paths in any way. Weisman and Warhol agreed that Weisman would select the athletes himself, because, as he noted, Andy “didn’t know the difference between a football and a golf ball.” The series features some of the most famous athletes of the day, including, in addition to those mentioned above, boxer Muhammad Ali, football’s O.J. Simpson, ice skater Dorothy Hamill, basketball’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, tennis player Chris Evert, jockey Willie Shoemaker, and soccer’s Pelé. While not among Warhol’s best-known work, this series presents an interesting digression from his usual society portraits, while at the same time, marking the period in which top athletes first became viewed as sports stars, and began to inhabit the world of celebrity.