The University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Reed Art Gallery will present Warhol Revisited, a selection from its collection of original artworks by renowned American artist Andy Warhol, from Dec. 2, 2022, to Jan. 27, 2023. The exhibition will feature black-and-white photographs, Polaroids, and original screen prints.
The public is invited to view the exhibition throughout the show’s run and attend an opening reception on Friday, Dec. 2, from 6-8 p.m. This event is free and open to the public and Reed Art Gallery Director Frank Sullivan will be on hand to discuss the works in the show. This reception is being held in conjunction with the Presque Isle First Friday Art Walk. The Reed Gallery is located on the second floor of the University’s Center for Innovative Learning.
UMPI’s Andy Warhol Collection includes 153 silver gelatin prints and Polaroid photographs, valued at more than $100,000, that were gifted to the University in 2008 by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts as part of its Andy Warhol Photographic Legacy Program. The Foundation donated a total of 28,543 original Warhol photographs—valued in excess of $28 million—to 183 college and university art museums across the U.S in honor of the Foundation’s 20th anniversary. The collection also includes five original screen prints created by the artist between 1979 and 1987 that were part of a second gift from the Andy Warhol Foundation.
This exhibition will include portrait photography, featuring images of pop culture icons, artists, performers, socialites, and various members of Warhol’s circle of friends and associates. According to Sullivan, Warhol had a keen interest in the idiosyncrasies of individuals and a gift for capturing these in visual images. The images offer unique insight into the artist’s way of seeing the world and stand as an accurate record of the cultural climate during a specific slice of American history. Many of the photographs, especially the Polaroids, were taken as studies for large scale works in other media.
“The Warhol pieces are a vital part of the University’s Fine Art Collection,” Sullivan said. “Many of the pieces were displayed in the Reed Gallery in separate exhibitions in 2008, 2012, and 2015, but I wanted to revisit the collection and give the public another opportunity to view some of these important works. Andy Warhol’s contributions to contemporary ideas about visual arts, the art-making process, and the relationship between visual imagery and popular culture cannot be understated. It is an honor to have these pieces as part of our collection and I am excited about sharing them with the community as part of the University’s commitment to the Arts.”
All are invited to view the exhibit Dec. 2, 2022 through Jan. 27, 2023, and to come out to the First Friday Art Walk on Dec. 2 and take part in the free reception and brief gallery talk by Sullivan.
The Reed Art Gallery is located on the upper floor of the Center for Innovative Learning in the heart of the UMPI campus at 181 Main St. in Presque Isle. Regular gallery hours during the academic year are Monday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., Fridays from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Sundays from 2 to 8 p.m. The Reed Art Gallery is closed on Saturdays and holidays. For more information, contact Gallery Director Frank Sullivan at frank.sullivan@maine.edu or 207-694-1920.