GAY & LESBIAN TRAVEL STORIES

This American Pop Life

If Guy Pierce's portrayal of Andy Warhol in the Sienna Miller pic Factory Girl whet your whistle for more Warhol (or if you absolutely hated the film and have a hankering for the real thing), you should definitely check out the fantastic Andy Warhol Museum ("the Warhol") in the wonderfully revitalized city of Pittsburgh. For that matter, if you loved David Bowie as Warhol in Basquiat or if you just love everything Warhol ever did (I'd be in that last category) then you too should check out the Warhol. It houses a fantastic collection of not only of his paintings (which are there, too) but also of his films and his personal items and it has a super-cool shop to boot where you can get your fix of Andy's Marilyns, cows, flowers and so much more.

The museum's collection showcases some great painting as well as a number of other superb Warhol artifacts. Start on the top floor and work your way down. First you can check out whatever temporary exhibition is on display there was a great one by artist Glenn Ligon when I was there but it changes every few months. Also on the top floor are a collection of Warhol's clothes, personal items and wigs (all from the "Original by Paul" brand). A collection of items from Warhol's medicine cabinet is especially interesting in light of his extensive use of consumer packaging as source material for his silkscreens and as everyone knows there's a particularly satisfying voyeurism involved in seeing what's inside someone's medicine cabinet. Also upstairs is a hysterical list of Warhol's boyfriends, complete with full names (like "Rod La Rod") and the dates of the relationship (see the picture in our flipbook).

Throughout the museum are Warhol's famous "screen test" short films. For the most part, the screen tests consist of a close shot of someone sitting mostly still for a few minutes. I watched Baby Jane Holzer's test at the museum, and, as is the case in much of Warhol's other film work, the stillness and lack of large scale action make minor actions seem substantially more important. You notice a blink of an eye or a deep breath much more when nothing else is going on.

While not on display when I was there, there is one screen test that is very different and of particular gay interest: Freddy Herko. Herko was a dancer and speed user who transformed his screen test into a choreographed ritual in which he moved in an out of the frame, almost cruising the viewer as he nervously looks towards and then away from the camera check it out if you ever have the opportunity. The Warhol also has a large auditorium that shows Warhol's longer films, which are wonderful and strange and represent an enormous artistic accomplishment that is to some extent lesser known than the pop paintings. There's a schedule of film times on the museum's website.