If my father were still alive, I would be taking him to the new Warhol exhibition at the Hall Art Foundation in Reading, VT. Not because he liked Warhol—a native of our own Pittsburgh neighborhood—but because he didn’t. You know, bah humbug on the “art of the Campbell’s soup can.” For him, Warhol was too imposing in just about every sense of the word. Large canvases, then-wild ideas and pop culture muses, an urban bohemian life bathed in the limelight, big cotton white hair.
I have not yet seen the exhibition, but imagine that the recently opened Small Is Beautiful could provide a different kind of experience with this artist. One in which even my dad might have found him more approachable. For those unfamiliar with the Hall Art Foundation:
In the fall of 2012, the Hall Art Foundation in Reading, Vermont opened its doors to the public – welcoming visitors to view its program of rotating, temporary exhibitions of contemporary art. Exhibitions are held seasonally, from May through November.
Converted from a former dairy farm, the campus of converted galleries consists of a 19th-century stone farmhouse, three barns, as well as a reception center and cafe. The property’s 5 historic buildings make up approximately 6,000 sq. feet of museum-quality exhibition space. The farmhouse and barns sit next to a waterfall on a tributary of the Black River, and are surrounded by approximately 400 acres of pastures, hayfields and extensive woodland. Outdoor sculptures by world-renowned artists are installed throughout the grounds. (Hall Art Foundation website)
Sounds bucolic, no?—an adjective not associated with Warhol. The chosen spaces for displaying Warhol’s works are farmhouse walls, not the larger barns on the property. Maryse Brand, Director of the Hall Art Foundation, says “. . . we actually chose to install the Warhol show in the former farmhouses, which date from the early 1800s.
That's a unique way to experience Warhol's paintings. I think in this show you could find yourself in a room, the size of your living room or your bedroom, sort of surrounded by Warhol paintings — and it's much more intimate.” (Vermont Public, link below)
There is a particular Vermont connection in this exhibition: a piece Warhol created as a gift to Patty Oldenburg, who, according to Brand, currently lives and paints in St. Johnsbury.
As the title suggests, these 100 or so works are small is size, or according to the website, “domestically scaled,” different from those in any Warhol exhibition I have seen. Do Warhol paintings need to be outsized to pack the usual wallop? I’ll let you know, or even better, you might take in the exhibition yourself and tell me what you think.
On view through November 26, 2023. For more information, hours, tours, see The Foundation’s website. For the complete interview by Vermont Public with Maryse Brand, click here to read or listen. Photo, top, courtesy of the Hall Art Foundation.
And in other Warhol-related news, the Warhol Foundation lost a case before the United States Supreme Court last week. Seven of the nine justices found that one of his works, a silkscreen of a photo of Prince, violated copyright laws. Click here for a summary, including excerpts from the dissent of Justice Elena Kagan, who believes that all artists borrow from one another, and who worries that the court’s ruling will stifle artists’ creativity.
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And in case you are wondering . . . Susan B. Apel shuttered a lifelong career as a law professor to continue an interest (since kindergarten) in writing. Her freelance business, The Next Word, includes literary and feature writing; her work has appeared in a variety of lit mags and other publications including Art New England, The Woven Tale Press, The Arts Fuse, and Persimmon Tree. She connects with her neighbors through Artful, her blog about arts and culture in the Upper Valley. She’s in love with the written word.