The Andy Warhol Museum (Ron Mueck and Martin Klimas)

It's probably a coincidence that I visited the Andy Warhol Museum so soon after mentioning the artist in a blog post. I've been going about once a year since it opened in the early 1990's. For a brief period of time in my 20's, I actually worked in the museum gift shop (one of my co-workers was Maddy Warhola, -Andy's niece). It was a relaxing job, but I ran into some trouble with management. It was often very slow during the week, and to fill the time I worked my way through a Warhol biography. I learned a lot about his life and work, and felt that reading that book made me more qualified to sell stuff at the store. Unfortunately my bosses didn't feel the same, and someone tipped me off about their plans to let me go. I resented the decision. Surely they wanted knowledgeable staff behind the counter? In any event, I came to appreciate Warhol in a way I might never have otherwise.

Despite that less-than-thrilling experience with the institution, I have good feelings about the museum itself. When the place first opened I wondered how they were going to be able to keep it interesting. Most people know how much artwork Warhol and his Factory produced, but much of it is very similar in tone and content. Still at any one point in time, the museum can only show a small portion of its collection. So that allows some variability over the years. There is also an entire floor devoted to his "time capsules", where the contents of sealed cardboard boxes are displayed under glass as they are opened. There's something rather exciting about the project. I once had the opportunity to catalog the contents of a capsule. I was probably the third or fourth person to hold those items since Andy put them away. I also got to break down a Basquiat show, and hold his slippers and paints in my hands.

The Warhol Museum's practice of exhibiting other modern artists is another factor that keeps repeated visits lively. Of course there have been many shows with folks who either collaborated directly with Warhol, or otherwise had contact with him in New York City over the years. Besides Basquiat, I have seen work by Keith Haring, Francisco Clemente, Kenny Scharf and Julian Schnabel. And the curators don't limit themselves to his contemporaries. Instead they include a wide range of current creators who have been somehow influenced by Warhol. Included in this category have been Grayson Perry, Bruce Naumann, Henry Darger, Glenn Ligon, and Patti Smith. Somehow the museum retains a freshness that rewards habitués. They even feature social events that include hip bands and films.

So I found myself back again for the closing weekend of a current exhibition. There has been a lot of hype around town regarding the inclusion of several Ron Mueck pieces at the museum. Mueck is an Australian hyperrealist sculptor who uses silicone and other mixed media to create absurdly scaled reproductions of naked and partially covered human beings. Some of the pieces in the Warhol show were monstrously large (including a newborn baby, complete with umbilical cord, and a middle-aged woman reclining in bed), and others were downscaled to about 1/4th of normal size. They are remarkably accessible and don't require any particular knowledge of the art world to appreciate. As a result they are immensely popular. No doubt it was these pieces that attracted the large crowds last Friday evening.

But in another section of the building I discovered a small collection of photographic enlargements by Martin Klimas. This exhibition apparently opened on March 22 (in conjunction with NCECA), and runs until June 1, 2008. Despite the fact that it hasn't been widely publicized as a high-profile attraction, I recommend seeing this while it's still in town. Klimas is a German photographer who works with high-speed film. He drops ceramic figurines in a completely dark studio. The sound of them hitting a hard surface triggers a burst of light for a fraction of a second, and the object's initial fracture is captured in wondrously exquisite detail. The movement implicit in these stills is palpable, yet they somehow retain the characteristics of the classic still life composition. It's impressive work that justifies either a first-time visit or another happy return.

NCECA Ceramics Pittsburgh.

Truth be told, the sum total of all I know about ceramics could fit into a soup bowl. Naturally I never thought I'd be writing a post about this crafty art form. But one never knows how the exigencies of fate will conspire to make you consider something you never really expected to think about. I guess the seeds for this particular post were planted when the funding for the new David L. Lawrence Convention Center was in place. The state-of-the-art facilities have attracted a number of events that ordinarily would have bypassed Pittsburgh. Who could have ever predicted that the Furries would come to the Three Rivers? Likewise, who would have known that NCECA would decide to locate their annual event in the Burgh?

NCECA stands for the National Council on Education for the Ceramics Arts. It's too late to book your reservations for this year's conference, but you can still take advantage of the many events around the city that galleries, studios and other cultural institutions have planned in conjunction with NCECA. In fact, if you are a regular at art openings around town, you've likely already seen a fair amount of ceramics work this month. As I (somewhat offhandedly) remarked to one friend via e-mail- "This town is lousy wit' 'em" (ceramics, that is). And just from one observer's perspective, it is amazing how versatile artists can be while working in this medium.

Surely anyone who grew up in the 80's knew at least one person that got caught up in the trend of ceramics painting. You'd go choose one from among many generic molds, and paint a hardened gray object to suit your tastes, and to match the colors of your home furnishings. I'm not very proud of the fact that I broke many of these craft products in the process of negotiating my way through my tempestuous preteen years. Little did I know that I'd be looking at examples of the form in art galleries a couple of decades later. The difference is that these are one-of-a-kind works of genius. The range of subjects that can be conveyed in clay of one sort of another is limited only by the wild imaginations of the creators.

I bought my first ceramics piece from Laura Jean McLaughlin -a friend of mine that runs a great galley/studio called the Clay Penn. I caught sight of a truly wondrous object- a round glass tabletop suspended above a fantastically strange mermaid. It was something out of a child's fevered hallucination-dream. It was truly unlike anything else I had ever seen, and I had to have it. It took me months to arrange its purchase, but it now occupies a central place in my burgeoning art collection. I have since acquired several more of McLaughlin's pieces, which are dispersed throughout my house. I've also subsequently learned that my friend is internationally-known for her work. And I've started to appreciate ceramic arts in a way that I would have never guessed. But you can see for yourself this weekend...

Particular highlights around town include the work at the La Vie Gallery, the Clay Penn, Fe Gallery, and Modern Formations. I've seen these shows personally, and so I can recommend them without reservation. Now that the official participants of NCECA have arrived (approximately 5000 of them), these places will be having official receptions to welcome connoisseurs. You can find out what's happening at the larger institutions around town by visiting NCECA's official site. But to really get the most out of this weekend, you are going to have to do some digging. If you have a favorite gallery in the area, stop by and see what they are offering. Some of the places that I know are hosting ceramic art (that I haven't visited) include Moxie Dada (North Side) and the James Simon Gallery (Uptown). This "gallery guide" site is an especially comprehensive gateway for specific information.