Opening Thursday, April 16 –
In 1978, Richard Weisman, a close friend of Andy Warhol and an avid art collector, commissioned Warhol to paint portraits of 10 famous athletes. After creating Polaroid portraits of each athlete, Warhol used his signature screen-printing method to transfer the photos to a 40-by-40-inch canvas where he’d add his final touches with acrylic paint. While most of Warhol’s works consisted of rock stars and fashion idols, this series included some of the greatest athletes the world had seen to that point, including NBA’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, golf’s Jack Nicklaus, figure skater Dorothy Hamill, boxing great Muhammad Ali and football’s O.J. Simpson. On Thursday, April 16, patrons can enjoy refreshments, a cash bar and live music on Oklahoma City Museum of Art’s Roof Terrace from 5 to 11 p.m. to celebrate the opening of Warhol: The Athletes. Beginning at 6 p.m., hear from the collector himself, Richard L. Weisman, and at 7:30 p.m. enjoy Andy Warhol Screen Tests that feature Salvador Dali, Bob Dylan, Dennis Hopper, Nico and Factory icon Edie Sedgwick; both events will take place in the Samuel Roberts Noble Theater. For more information, visit www.okcmoa.com.
