Volkswagen by Andy Warhol
Insights into the life and cultural impact of Andy Warhol are being delivered by Essex academics as part of a series of weekend talks organised to celebrate the major exhibition dedicated to the artist at Firstsite in Colchester.
Viewpoints is a series of short lunchtime talks at 1pm on Saturdays which will reflect on Warhol’s work and offer fresh perspectives on everything from The Factory to soup cans. The talks will feature writers and academics especially invited by Firstsite and the University of Essex. You'll be able to catch up with many of the talks on Firstsite's SoundCloud channel.
The opening talk on Saturday 7 May features Professor Sean Nixon, Head of the Department of Sociology and Director of the MA Advertising, Marketing and the Media course at Essex. He’ll be exploring Andy Warhol’s relationship to the world of commercial art and advertising in New York in the 1950s and 1960s.
Other Essex speakers include Stevphen Shukaitis, Senior Lecturer in Culture and Organisation, on Saturday 21 May; Dr James Harvey, Lecturer in Film Studies, on Saturday 28 May; and Dr Jordan Savage, Lecturer in United States Literature, on Saturday 4 June. Essex Alumnus Dr David Giles, Reader in Media Psychology at the University of Winchester, is also delivering a Viewpoint talk on Saturday 11 June.
Full list of Viewpoints
Free, no booking required. Meet at 1pm in Firstsite’s reception.
Andy Warhol, New York Advertising and the Creative Revolution
Professor Sean Nixon, Firstsite, Colchester. Saturday 7 May 1.00-1.45pm.
The Factory vs The Garden: Artist Collectives and Collaboration
Stevphen Shukaitis, Senior Lecturer in Culture and Organisation at Essex, examines how artists collaborate, comparing Warhol’s Factory to other, more organic creative collectives. Saturday 21 May, 1-1.45pm.
Screen Tests: Challenging Empathy in Warhol's Faces
Dr James Harvey, Lecturer in Film Studies at Essex, explores how Warhol challenged and repurposed the Hollywood tradition of 'Screen Testing', highlighting the empathic power of the human face, so vital to the Hollywood style. Saturday 28 May, 1-1.45pm.
“That’s what you think of in the City” (Frank O’Hara), Three stories from Andy Warhol’s New York
Dr Jordan Savage, Lecturer in US Literature in the Department of Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies, recounts anecdotes about three poets Valerie Solanas, Patti Smith and Frank O’Hara, sharing intimate details of their lives, poetry and relationship to Warhol. Saturday 4 June, 1-1.45pm.
Tinned celebrities: How Warhol made soup out of Marilyn, Mao and Minelli
Essex alumnus Dr David Giles, Reader in Media Psychology at the University of Winchester, shares insights into Warhol’s celebrity portraits, looking at how he transformed his subjects into products, and asks how we might best understand Warhol’s “15 minutes of fame” claim today. Saturday 11 June, 1-1.45pm.