Louisville is about to take a step back in time to 1965 Manhattan to celebrate famous artist Andy Warhol and his sidekick Billy Name with a tremendous retro party and art show kick off.
Photographer Joe Mays and Art Sanctuary founder Lisa Frye have joined forces to produce a truly unique event to kick off their showing of Name’s prints of Warhol’s art as part of Louisville's Photo Biennial. Art Sanctuary's event space in Germantown will become the 1965 Manhattan "Warhol Factory" this Saturday October 3 for the psychedelic revival and 50th anniversary of Warhol's “Exploding Plastic Inevitable” (a series of artworks under a collective name.)
“Joe’s very passionate about it all and knowledgeable about Warhol,” said Frye. “He has been wanting to produce an event likes this for years. We thought it was a great fit for the Biennial.”
“It's not so much about me being into Andy Warhol's art itself as it is about my being fascinated with the environment of the Warhol factory,” explained Mays. “I have always been fascinated by communities of bohemians and outsiders, and the Warhol factory was one such environment. For a period of time in the late 60's, a lot of bohemians, artists, musicians, filmmakers, outcasts and outsiders came together and a lot of interesting collaborations happened.”
From 1963 to 1970, photographer Billy Name was Andy Warhol's partner and decorated much of the art space known as The Warhol Factory. “He was sort of the godfather to the people at the Warhol Factory, said Mays. "He documented much of the factory."
Mays added that Name set up the equipment for Warhol's screen tests. A lot of his photos are of people like Bob Dylan and other visitors who came in and out of the factory. They became iconic.
"Name was also a silk screen artist and was one of only two people Warhol trusted to do silk screens of his art, “Mays added. “He had many silk screen photo prints of Warhol's art, so we are doing a show of his photo prints during the photo Biennial. I think it’s very exciting that Louisville art collectors may be able to get their hands on these rare prints."
Saturday’s event is ages 18 plus and will run from 6 p.m. until 2 a.m. It will include many exciting experiences like a huge retro dance party hosted by DJ, record store owner and radio personality Matt Anthony. The event will serve as a Fundraiser for Art Sanctuary; tickets are $25. The first 100 people through the door will receive a free screen print from MissHappyPink.
The photos will be on display from noon to 5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday at Art Sanctuary until November 8, but three Warhol films will be shown at the kick off event. "Blow Job" will be shown to the musical styling of local band Ut Gret in addition to the films "The Nude Restaurant" and "The Chelsea Girls." "Chelsea Girls" features Paul Morris has been very hard for anyone to get their hands on in the past, and this is the first ever public showing in Louisville.
“I tried to find places 'Chelsea Girls' was showing,” Mays said. “I couldn’t find anywhere within eyeshot. I had a cousin that is a film professor in New York and asked her about it, and she said, ‘good luck.’ She had lucked out seeing the film five years prior at a Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) event but had to drive to Boston to do it. She said nobody gets "Chelsea Girls." Everything was originally handled by the Warhol Estate. They would never let 'Chelsea Girls' be transferred to DVD. So, many Warhol fans had never seen the footage. It led to a three month hunt to find and acquire rights to show the film”
Mays contacted The Warhol Foundation, and he was surprised when he was redirected to the Warhol museum. He found the surprising answer that the Warhol Foundation had sold all of his prints. They couldn’t sell the films, so they gave them to the Warhol Museum. The Museum of Warhol said they didn’t have the resources to manage aging film, so they turned it over to MOMA. The lady at MOMA asked about Art Sanctuary and wanted to know if it was arts education oriented. Upon learning that it was, she asked Mays what he thought about $400 as a rental fee.
“I was floored,” he said. “I told her I’d write the check myself right away.”
This event will be the first event in Art Sanctuary’s bigger event room with larger stage. The stage is 40 feet across with extensions and 30 foot ceilings. “There will be live art being created on site,” said Frye. “The roller derby girls are going to do security. We’ll even have a band called The Velveteen Underground to represent the Velvet Underground. It’s been fun to plan.”
“I have a fascination for creating things from the past,” said Mays. “I wish I could have gone to the Exploding Plastic Inevitable, but you know what? I was three.”
Art Sanctuary will also be showing the films again at a mini Warhol film festival Sunday as a follow up to Saturday’s event.
The schedule for the Saturday event:
5:30: Doors Open
6:00: "The Chelsea Girls" begins in the film lounge.
6:30: DJ Matt Anthony begins spinning the 60's by the main stage.
9:00: Psychedelic art rock band Sapat takes the main stage
9:30: "The Nude Restaurant" begins in the film lounge.
10:00: Ut Gret begins to blow minds on the main stage.
10:30: Ut Gret performs an improvised soundtrack to "Blowjob" on the main stage.
11:15: THE RELOADED PLASTIC INEVITABLE, a recreation of the Exploding Plastic Inevitable with a Velvet Underground tribute band, light show, performance art, more. The band performs the entirety of the "Velvet underground and Nico" album plus some extras.
12:15: DJ Matt Anthony takes over again for the rest of the night.
Throughout the night, there will be dancers, a photo booth, a contest for the best homemade foil or foil-accessorized outfit, silk screen demonstrations by MissHappyPink, a show of prints by Warhol factory photographer Billy Name as part of the Louisville Photo Biennial and more.
The schedule for Sunday is as follows:
Doors at 1:30 pm.
2:00 - 2:15: A discussion of "The Chelsea Girls".
2:15 - 5:50: The Chelsea Girls (w/ 10 minute intermission)
5:50 - 5:00 Question and answer session with the panel
Tickets for the Sunday film showing are $12 at the door.
Photography: One of Billy Name's photos supplied by Joe Mays
