Ron Rivlin, May 25, 2016
On May 16th 2016, the Barbican in London housed the event Exposed: Songs for Unseen Warhol Films. A collection of fifteen previously unseen short films by Andy Warhol were shown at the venue accompanied by live soundtracks. These new pieces were performed by songwriter-composers such as Tom Verlaine (Television), Marin Rev (Suicide), Eleanor Friedberger (The Fiery Furnaces), and Dean Wareham (Galaxie 500 and Luna).
The project was a collaboration between the Andy Warhol Museum’s curator of performing arts, Ben Harrison, curator of film and video, Geralyn Huxley, and guest music curator, Dean Wareham. It premiered November 2014 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Highlights from the event in London were Friedberger singing a poem by Helen Adam, Tom Verlaine’s pastoral melodies, Marin Rev’s keyboard skills, and Dean Wareham’s trio performance.
Needless to say, Wareham did an incredible job choosing musicians that represent the time period during which these shorts were created. Each film transports the viewer back to Warhol’s crazy New York City Art Scene world while the live scores provided an additional sensorial experience. The curators successfully blurred the line between visual, auditory, and performance art, an experience that resembles an evening at Warhol’s Factory back in its heyday.
