entourage

On his way: Andy Warhol arrives at CAMH in style with a Lynn Wyatt-approvedwelcome

Socialite extraordinaire Lynn Wyatt will help celebrate the arrival of artistRob Pruitt's Andy Monument on Saturday. Warhol painted her portrait, shown here.
Photos courtesy of Contemporary Arts Museum Houston
Warhol's Houston appearance was funded in large part by an online crowdsourcingcampaign.
Photo courtesy of Contemporary Arts Museum Houston/Webstagram
Artist Rob Pruitt
Photo by Timothy A. Clary/AFP ImageForum
Lynn Wyatt at CAMH's Another Great Night event in November 2012
Photo by © Michelle Watson/CatchLightGroup.com

Andy Warhol's officially in town . . . and he's ready to party.

After launching a unique crowdfunding campaign to bring a piece of NYC history to the Bayou City, the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston is proud to announce the arrival of Rob Pruitt's Andy Monument — a life-sized silver-toned replica of the artist who forever changed the way we see American culture.

"This piece graced the spot outside of the old Warhol Factory in Union Square in New York," said Arning. "It was so popular with area residents that its tenure there was extended twice."

On Saturday, following a special 2 p.m. talk on the project at the Texas Contemporary Art Fair, the CAMH officially unveils Andy to the Houston public. In attendance will be both the artist and society-scene legend Lynn Wyatt, who sat for her own Warhol portrait in the early 1980s.

"This piece graced the spot outside of the old Warhol Factory in Union Square in New York, and it was so popular with area residents that its tenure there was extended twice," explained CAMH director Bill Arning in a statement released Friday.

"As a young teenager I found in the persona of Andy Warhol license to be the person I wanted to be, and I think that experience is common for many people who learned to love art via Warhol," he continued. "They will now have a suitable pilgrimage site in Houston."

While only $5,300 of the $32,000 project was raised through the Internet campaign, CAMH spokesperson Connie McAllister told CultureMap that the museum is over the moon about its fundraising experiment through Indigogo.com.

"We secured a number of additional donations from people who'd heard about the fundraiser, but wanted to contribute anonymously," she said. "While the anonymous contributions didn't end up on Indigogo, we ultimately funded about a third of the Andy Monument through the campaign."

The remaining funds, she explained, were drawn from other generous CAMH supporters as well as from the museum budget.

The Andy Monumentwelcome ceremony runs from 6 to 8 p.m. on Saturday at the CAMH. The piece itself will be unveiled at 7:30 p.m.

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It's a wrap!

Strong sales, stellar reviews: Texas Contemporary plans to go national as itlooks to next year's art fair

Work by artist Gregory Scott at Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago.
Photo by Julie Knutson
Agnes Denes, Pyramids of Conscience, 2005, crude oil, water from the HoustonShip Channel, Houston tap water, mirror, 51x51x56", courtesy of Ballroom Marfa.
Photo by Julie Knutson
Robb Putnam, Rat #4 and Rat #5, 2012, fabric, plastic, leather, thread and mixedmedia, 8 by 10 by 5 inches, courtesy of Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco.
Photo by Julie Knutson
Monir Farmanfarmaian, Octagon, 2011, mirror and reverse glass painting onplaster and wood, 44 by 44 by 4.5 inches, courtesy of Haines Gallery, SanFrancisco.
Photo by Julie Knutson
Joan Mitchell, Untitled, c. 1960, oil on canvas, 31.5 by 23.5 inches, courtesyof Lennon Weinberg Gallery, New York.
Photo by Julie Knutson
Work by Houston artist Rachel Hecker at Texas Gallery, Houston.
Photo by Julie Knutson
Eric Daigh, My scissors aren't meant for this [detail], pushpins on board, 50 by35 inches, courtesy of Pentimenti, Philadelphia.
Photo by Julie Knutson
Travis Sommerville, Installation, courtesy of Catharine Clark Gallery, SanFransisco.
Photo by Julie Knutson

After a rockin' opening night party and overwhelmingly positive reviews from gallerists and collectors alike, the second annual Texas Contemporary show certainly made its mark on the city's fall art scene.

To get a sense of how this year's event compared to the 2011 inaugural effort, CultureMap caught up with Jeffery Wainhause of artMRKT, the production company behind the recent Houston fair as well as major shows in San Francisco, the Hamptons and Miami.

"Judging from what we've heard from gallery owners, we really hit it out of the park this time," said fair organizer Jeffery Wainhause. "People were extremely enthusiastic and sales appeared strong."

"With more than 10,000 visitors, it looks like we had a slightly larger crowd than the first show," he reported during a phone interview from Brooklyn, where artMRKT has been based since it was founded in early 2011.

"In the last two years, though, we've learned that attendance numbers are not the most important factor. They're a great sign, but we usually gauge the overall success of a fair by the happiness of our constituents. Judging from what we've heard from gallery owners, we really hit it out of the park this time. People were extremely enthusiastic and sales appeared strong."

Wainhause said his team concentrated on the overall feel of the show, searching for ways to maintain a flexible and friendly open space capable of handling regular bursts of heavy traffic. Co-organizer Max Fishko, meanwhile, focused on vetting the fair's 65 galleries.

"Max did a wonderful job juxtaposing galleries that show newer and older examples of contemporary art. When the level and quality of the artwork is so high, the fair is easy after that."

Having a better sense of the city's collectors and art institutions was paramount to the success of this year's show, explained Wainhause.

"Houston's collector base is broad and very sophisticated. Gallerists across the nation are starting to take note of the city."

"Houston's collector base is broad and very sophisticated," he said. "Gallerists across the nation are starting to take note of the city, because dealers are able to bring some of their more challenging work here."

To avoid scheduling the fair during the Dallas Museum of Art's annual TWO x TWO art auction, artMRKT will stage Texas Contemporary a weekend earlier in 2013 to better reach its north Texas audience.

"We're not looking to get bigger next year, but we are hoping to make the show even stronger. We're also going to expand our national marketing campaign for Texas Contemporary. It's time to let the rest of the country know about what we're doing in Houston."

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