Andy Warhol Capturing Celebrity Exhibition Featured at the Polaroid Museum

Andy Warhol was an iconic American artist and a leader in the pop art movement that flourished in the 1960s. His works are a reflection of artistic expression, celebrity culture and advertisement. The Andy Warhol Museum in his native city, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, holds an extensive permanent collection of art and archives. While much of his life was lived in the public eye (debatably purposely) there are some aspects of his life that are lesser known.

• Warhol published a cookbook for “people who don’t cook” in 1959 with Suzie Frankfurth called Wild Raspberries, inspired by Ingmar Bergman’s 1957 film, Wild Strawberries. The hilarious, but faux cookbook was filled with inedible recipes and included hand-colored illustrations by Warhol, along with unusually specific instructions, like “take the Carey Cadillac to the side entrance and receive the pig at exactly 6:45.”
• His birth name was actually Andrew Warhola. Andy dropped the extra ‘a’ after college.
• Warhol adopted his gray-haired look while in his 20s so that people would notice how young he looked. He would eventually dye his hair silver.
• His nickname amongst his close friends was “Drella,” a combination of “Dracula” and “Cinderella.”
• His studio, The Factory, was a famous gathering place that brought together distinguished intellectuals, drag queens, playwrights, Bohemian street people, Hollywood celebrities, and wealthy patrons.

And last but not least, you may not know that Andy Warhol loved the Polaroid brand. He was rarely without his Polaroid camera and these cameras as the basis for creating many of his artworks including that of Liza Minnelli, Halston, and the Rolling Stones. In fact, by the 1980s, he used Polaroid products so frequently that he exchanged broken cameras for just-repaired models.He also used them to record moments of his life extensively. Even going so far as to document his recovery from his 1968 shooting.  Today Andy Warhol Museum’s collection includes nearly 3,000 Polaroid photographs created by Warhol – a mere fraction of his Polaroid output.

As of March 2014 that won’t be the only place you can see Andy Warhol works extensively. When Polaroid’s Fotobar flagship location launches at The LINQ in Las Vegas, NV in March 2014 – so too will the new Polaroid Museum, which features the “Capturing Celebrity” exhibition in collaboration with The Andy Warhol Museum.

Fun Fact:  The Andy Warhol Museum, one of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh is the Largest Museum In The WORLD dedicated to a single artist.

This  fun, interactive and educational museum will be suitable for all ages. It’s main attraction will be be the Andy Warhol “Capturing Celebrity” exhibition, which will feature a collection of 50 of Warhol’s most famous Polaroid photographs including a number of self-portraits. The exhibit will also feature several celebrity portraits including Truman Capote, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Mick Jagger, Dolly Parton, Farrah Fawcett, Giorgio Armani, Muhammad Ali and more. Two of Warhol’s personal Polaroid cameras will also be on display.

 “We are honored to partner with The Andy Warhol Museum and feature the ’Capturing Celebrity’ exhibition,” said Warren Struhl, Founder and CEO of the new museum. “A Polaroid Museum without Andy Warhol just wouldn’t be right.”

But it will also convey the rich history of the Polaroid brand. The museum will also showcase how its founder, Edwin Land, impacted not just the modern imaging industry, but set the course for the future of instant and collaborative sharing. With an extensive collection of rare artifacts, art and advertising courtesy of the Polaroid Company Historical Collection at MIT, the museum will trace Polaroid from the early years through current day. The exhibit will also feature many photographic works from several prominent Polaroid photographers.