Andy Warhol is ‘Exposed’ at UCLA with 15 Never-Before-Seen Films

Julianne Ishler

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Andy Warhol Museum, the Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA will present Exposed: Songs for Unseen Warhol Films on October 24. The multimedia performance event will debut 15 never-before-seen films from the 1960s by art icon Andy Warhol. The film presentation will feature original live scores by Music Curator Dean Wareham (Galaxie 500, Luna), Tom Verlaine (Television), Martin Rey (Suicide), Eleanor Friedberger (the Fiery Furnaces) and Bradford Cox (Deerhunter). These notable composers reflect musical influences ranging from the post-Velvet Underground ’70s to today. In addition, a house band will perform with Britta Phillips (bass and vocals), Roger Brogan (drums) and Jason Quever (guitar, keyboard, vocals).

Warhol’s films are a combination of portrait pieces and documentaries that include artists such as John Giorno, Marcel Duchamp, Allen Ginsberg, Taylor Mead, Jack Smith, Mary Woronov, Edie Sedgwick and even Warhol himself. Best known for pop art, Warhol was a leader in the visual art movement as his work references celebrity culture, artistic expression and the American Dream. His most famous pieces include iconic American objects, such as dollar bills, Campbell’s soup cans and Coca-Cola bottles, and celebrities like Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Troy Donahue and Elizabeth Taylor. Warhol also incorporated mixed media into his art, pioneering computer-generated pieces along with his drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture, film and music.

From 1963 to 1968, Warhol made more than 60 films that capture the human experience. He loved to create art by capturing people in their everyday realities. One of his most famous films is Sleep, which monitors Poet John Giorno as he sleeps for six hours. The film Empire includes eight hours of footage of the Empire State Building at dusk, while Warhol’s most commercially successful film Chelsea Girls is actually two films projected simultaneously. The artist also compiled 500 short black-and-white screen-test portraits of people who visited the Factory, the melting pot hotspot where artists, playwrights, celebrities and other friends of Warhol would gather.

Exposed: Songs for Unseen Warhol Films will surely excite fans of the iconic artist, and the accompanying music will elicit what Warhol liked to capture best: human emotion. With top composers performing live, this event will definitely be an incredible experience.

For more information on tickets, click here.