warhol live

I admit I was a little skeptical about how good the Warhol Live exhibit at the de Young was going to be, and even though I ended up really liking it I'm still not quite sure it warrants an extra $10 added on to the price of admission to the museum proper.  But the connection between Andy Warhol and music is absolutely solid and by no means just a curator's invention, from the artist's early love of Judy Garland to the album covers he produced for the Stones and the Smiths to his work managing the Velvet Underground.  I loved how the exhibition incorporated relevant music into each gallery along with the art on display, with whispers of Bob Dylan and Debbie Harry drawing me from room to room like a siren's song.  Warhol's eye-popping silkscreens and experimental videos are complemented by a wealth of ephemera like the contact sheets that he used as source material and old Interview magazines, and a handful of black-and-white documentary photos taken of Edie Sedgwick and company during the Factory days are particularly awesome.  However, the centerpiece of the whole show for me is the section devoted to the Velvet Underground, the first room of which displays the four members' Warhol screen tests lined up side-by-side on small tv sets with Nico's at the end as the fifth.  Hers is striking compared to the others' in the way that she cannot seem to hold still, always alluring but looking here and there with a restless energy.  I was mesmerized by the whole set of them, and only pulled myself away because I could hear "Waiting for My Man" emanating from behind the black velvet curtains that led to the next room.  I stepped inside to find footage of the Velvets projected larger-than-life on all four walls while blocks of colored light shifted on top and a disco ball spun overhead, all the while with music from The Velvet Underground & Nico pounding away.  It was instant sensory overload, in the best possible way.  I sank into the provided cushions in the center of the room and blissed the hell out.