The Eternal Now: Warhol and Film '63-'68 

Andy Warhol. Kiss 1963, 16mm film, black and white, silent, 54 minutes at 16 frames per second. ©2008 The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA, a museum of Carnegie Institute. All rights reserved.

Ikon’s exhibition concentrates on the period of Warhol’s expansive studio renamed the ‘Silver Factory’. Key films by Warhol and his collaborators are presented, from the earliest period of the Factory when Warhol announced he was no longer making painting.

From 1963 when Warhol bought his first 16mm movie camera, to 1968 when he started to ‘retire’ from film-making, these works chart an extraordinary period of invention. Unedited, filmed in real time, the action unfolds in front of the cameras, the duration of each work corresponding to its subject – for example almost eight hours with Sleep (1963). In these black and white, silent films, challenging notions of how and what could be made and received conventions of cinema, themes emerge around ideas of documentation, most clearly seen in Empire (1964) lasting 8 hours and 5 minutes. Other films shown include Kiss (1963) and Eat (1964).

This exhibition also includes a selection from the Screen Tests series, portraits of Factory visitors produced from 1964–1966 which became a major element of Warhol’s production at this time. These short four-minute pieces show compelling and insightful vignettes and Ikon presents several reels showing individuals such as Lou Reed, Marcel Duchamp, John Cale, Edie Sedgwick, Billy Name, Lucinda and Ondine.