Opening Weekend | Andy Warhol and Ai Weiwei | NGV International

The NGV has organised a series of talks and lectures to celebrate the opening of their summer exhibition Andy Warhol and Ai Weiwei.

Andy Warhol   Ai Weiwei   NGV

Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th at 11am | Curatorial Introduction to the exhibition .
Learn more about the artistic practices of Andy Warhol and Ai Weiwei with a curatorial introduction by Max Delany, Senior Curator, Contemporary Art
Cost $8 M / $12 A / $10 C. Bookings here.

Saturday 12th December 3pm | Lecture - Andy Warhol: The Man and the Artist | Eric Shiner, Director, The Andy Warhol Museum

Opening to the public only seven years after the artist’s death, The Andy Warhol Museum is the largest museum in the United States dedicated to a single artist. Located in his hometown of Pittsburgh, the museum was set up to honour Warhol’s wish to help promote art and artists with the proceeds of his estate.

Hear insights into the life and work of this iconic artist from the Director of The Andy Warhol Museum, Eric Shiner, in this special lecture, followed by a Q&A with exhibition curator Max Delany.

Cost $12 M / $15 A / $13 C. Bookings here.

Short Talks

Talks will take place in the exhibition space so exhibition fees apply. No bookings required.

Fri 11 Dec | 2pm | Warhol’s Exploding Plastic Inevitable
Speaker Greg Pierce, Assistant Curator of Film and Video, The Andy Warhol Museum

Sat 12 Dec | 11.30am | Warhol’s photographs made in China
Speaker Susan van Wyk, Senior Curator of Photography, NGV

Andy Warhol flew to Bejing in 1982 and recorded his impressions in brief journal entries and by taking photographs. He became a sight-seer, an unusual role for him, in a largely unfamiliar place and culture. These photographs have both artistic value and documentary merit, showing Beijing as a capital with almost no commercial influence on the verge of an enormous change.

Sat 12 Dec | 12pm | Larry Warsh on Ai Weiwei

Speaker Larry Warsh, publisher and collector and founder of AW Asia

New Yorker and founder of AW Asia, Larry Warsh is a longstanding patron of Ai Weiwei’s work as well as being a close friend of the artist.

Hear Warsh discuss his connection with Ai Weiwei as a friend, publisher and collector, exploring Ai’s work and life with reference toCircle of Animals (in Gold) 2010, the artist’s reinterpretation of the twelve bronze animal heads representing the traditional Chinese zodiac that were displayed at the Yuanming Yuan (Old Summer Palace), an imperial retreat in Beijing.

Sat 12 Dec | 2pm | The Criminal as Celebrity – Warhol’s Most Wanted Men
Speaker Nicholas Chambers, Curator, Modern and Contemporary International Art, Art Gallery of New South Wales

As his contribution to the exterior of New York State pavilion of the 1964 New York World Fair, Andy Warhol enlarged mug shots of the NYPD’s 13 most wanted criminals of 1962. Causing a minor scandal, the work was painted over with silver paint a few days later before the Fair was open to the public. In response to this, Warhol subsequently reused the silk screens to create a series of paintings of most wanted men.

Learn about Warhol’s fascination with criminal celebrity and how this relates to his series of death and disaster paintings from Nicholas Chambers, Curator, Modern and Contemporary International Art, Art Gallery of New South Wales and previous curator at The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh.

Sun 13 Dec | 11.30am | Tabloid – Warhol’s celebrity portraits
Speaker Danielle Whitfield, Curator, Fashion and Textiles

One of the twentieth century’s most significant artists, Warhol was fascinated by fame, celebrity and popular culture. His silkscreens contain some of the most defining iconography of the twentieth century and explore consumer society, fame, media and advertising.

Learn more about Warhol’s fascination with Hollywood, fashion and celebrity while taking a closer look at his colourful silkscreen portraits of famous figures.

Sun 13 Dec | 2pm | Ai Weiwei’s Forever Bicycles and Chandeliers
Speaker Simon Maidment, Curator, Contemporary Art.

Ai Weiwei’s Forever Bicycles and chandelier series have appeared in galleries, festivals and art fairs across the globe.

Created using stacked bicycle frames, the Forever Bicycles series is named for the bike brand that has been mass-produced in Shanghai since 1940. For Ai Weiwei a Forever Bicycle symbolises the freedom to move. Once the primary form of travel in China, these bikes are now a luxury. Forever Bicycles 2015 is a major new installation designed specifically for the NGV, and composed from over 1500 bicycles marking the entrance to the exhibition.

The entrance to the gallery also sees a five-metre tall chandelier of crystal and light in front of the NGV waterwall. Another luxury, the chandelier is a symbol of extravagance for Ai, who grew up in exile without lights or candles during China’s cultural revolution.