"Marisol and Warhol Take New York" at Perez Art Museum Miami

In the midst of Marisol's "The Party" (1965-1966)

Our Algonquin adventure included a stop at the Perez Art Museum Miami, another museum I've been eager to check out. And this was the perfect time for a visit with the wonderful "Marisol and Warhol Take New York" exhibit on display. I loved it. 

Warhol is, well, Warhol, and we've all seen his work a million times. But Marisol is a new artist to me. I was introduced to her work a few months ago when glass artist Stephanie Trenchard embedded replicas of works by Marisol in her "Portrait of Marisol Escobar." One look at Trenchard's tiny recreations of Marisol's sculptures and I knew Marisol was an artist right up my alley. But I wasn't prepared for the impact of entering a room filled with Marisol's life-sized creations. I could hardly stop myself from running from piece to piece with glee.  

"Andy" (1962-1963)

Warhol and Marisol met in the early 1960s and became fast friends. And why not? Both were Pop artists just getting their start on the New York art scene. Marisol was the first to achieve fame with her 1964 exhibit at The Stable Gallery in New York. Attendance at the exhibit was reportedly 2,000 visitors a day. (That is not a typo.) Has another gallery show ever been so wildly popular? The demographics of those visitors included mothers with young children in tow and speak to the accessibility and straight up fun of Marisol's work. 

Marisol and Warhol were both inspired by each other and included the other in their work. In "Andy," Marisol depicts Warhol in her trademark boxy style. Sculptures are three dimensional by definition. But this work gives viewers different painted perspectives of Warhol as you walk around the sculpture. When you move from looking at "Andy" straight on to a side view, you don't see the artist's profile but a three-quarters view of his face. It gives the viewer a glimpse into slightly different sides of Warhol -- both literally and figuratively. And then there is the assemblage aspect of Marisol's works. "Andy" includes a pair of Warhol's actual shoes and plaster casts of the Marisol's own hands. It's a wonderful tribute to their friendship. 

Warhol in turn included Marisol in some of his experimental films, including "Screen Test" and "Kiss." He called Marisol "the first girl artist with glamour." High praise indeed from the man credited with predicting everyone will have their 15 minutes of fame. (Rabbit hole alert: Warhol may not have actually made his most famous statement. But once the comment was attributed to him, he grabbed onto it and didn't let go. Click here for more on that. But I digress.) 

"The Kennedy Family" by Marisol (1961) 
with "Jackie" by Warhol (1964)

The pairing of Marisol's "The Kennedy Family" and Warhol's "Jackie" created a poignant moment in the show. Marisol's sculpture, done in 1961, shows JFK, Jackie, Caroline and baby JFK Jr. during the first year of Kennedy's term. Marisol was inspired to create this work after JFK made two trips to Marisol's home country of Venezuela in 1961. Jackie accompanied him on the second visit and wowed the crowd by giving a speech in Spanish. And here's a fun fact: A price list for Marisol's show at The Stable Gallery shows "The Kennedy Family" listed for $3,000. Pretty pricey in 1964 dollars. I wasn't able to find out if it sold. 

"The Kennedy Family" was framed by Warhol's 1964 silk screens of Jackie. Warhol captured the First Lady not only in mourning but in the moments before, during and after the assassination. The wall card noted that Warhol's homage to the First Lady "captures a moment when death became a national spectacle of grief and mourning." It's hard to read this comment and not think about the aftermath of the mass shootings that have become such a frequent part of our news cycle. 

"Dinner Date" (1963) 

Marisol often depicted herself in her works. In "The Dinner Date," Marisol is dining with another version of herself. (Welcome to my world, sans Netflix.) The sculpture was Marisol's response to the media's obsession with her choice to remain single and childless. What woman in her right mind would choose this status, especially in the 1960s? As in "Andy," the work includes plaster casts of Marisol's hands and some of her own shoes. The TV dinners -- still a relatively new convenience in 1963 -- are a nice touch. 

"The Party" (a detail of which is shown above) includes 15 figures, all of which include a version of Marisol's own face. Some are photos; others are carved or cast in rubber or plaster. Much of the clothing the women wear came from Marisol's own wardrobe. It's so engaging. Earlier in this post I called Marisol's work fun, and it is fun to take in her figures. But there's also a sense of isolation in her work. All of her figures stare straight ahead and are physically unable to change their perspective. In "The Party," Marisol made a conscious decision to position her figures so that they are not interacting with one another. So maybe it's not such a fun party after all. 

"The Bathers" (1961)

I loved this exhibit so much that I could go on and on. But why hear from me when you can hear from Jessica Beck, the curator who spent five years of her life putting the show together? For a virtual tour of the exhibit from its original mounting at the The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, click here. It's the next best thing to visiting the show. In fact, the Warhol Museum is set up to really showcase Warhol's film work so that aspect of the exhibit had much more of a presence in Pittsburgh -- and in this video -- than in Miami. And to read a bit more about the exhibit, click here and here. The first is from Vogue, a magazine in which Marisol appeared during her lifetime. 

"Marisol and Warhol Take New York" is on at Perez Art Museum Miami through September 5. For more information, click here. Get there if you can.