Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West, is proud to announce today the upcoming dual art exhibition opening of Western Pop: Andy Warhol & Billy Schenck. The exhibitions will showcase the work of two boldly colorful, iconic artists who explore the myths and nostalgia of the American West from distinct perspectives.
Western Pop: Andy Warhol & Billy Schenck will open to the public at Western Spirit on June 20, 2023, and run through November 26, 2023. The Briscoe Western Art Museum in San Antonio, Texas organized the traveling exhibition, first premiering there on May 25, 2018 - September 3, 2018.
Andy Warhol: Cowboys & Indians is a collection of 14 screen prints highlighting classic and popular Western archetypes and calling attention to the cultural significance of cowboys and Native Americans in the American West. Warhol used photographs as source material to distill an ocean of imagery into a series that explores the myths and nostalgia of the American West. Cowboys & Indians was Warhol’s last major project before he passed away in 1987. Only 250 copies of the portfolio were printed.
Billy Schenck: Myth of the West features 29 works, including oil on canvas and serigraphs, by the cowboy artist himself. Schenck, a genuine cowboy who was inspired by Warhol, based his paintings on Hollywood interpretations of a mythic “Old West” before transitioning to his own versions of a mythic “New West” in the 1980s. Schenck’s “New West” satirized Hollywood icons, urban cowboys, and women with guns, allowing him to explore social and political commentary that could lead to universal truths and lies.
“We are thrilled to unveil these two contemporary Western art exhibitions together and offer our visitors a fresh perspective to experience, explore and compare the nostalgia of the American West through the eyes of two iconic American Pop artists,” said Tricia Loscher, Assistant Director - Collections, Exhibitions, and Research, Western Spirit: Scottsdale's Museum of the West. “Andy Warhol and Billy Schenck’s work showcases the diversity of perspectives and the richness of the American West’s cultural heritage.”
For more information on Western Pop: Andy Warhol & Billy Schenck, please visit https://scottsdalemuseumwest.org/project/western-pop/.
Western Spirit features regularly changing and permanent exhibits of Western and Native American art and artifacts, entertaining events, and informative programs that bring the West’s heritage, culture, and community to life. Featuring The Gather: A Portrait of the American West by Scott T. Baxter; Vaqueros de La Cruz del Diablo, Werner Segarra, opening to the public on June 20th; and The Railroad Opening Up the West, a model train exhibition.
Permanent exhibitions continually on display include Canvas of Clay: Hopi Pottery Masterworks from The Allan and Judith Cooke Collection, which features 65 of the finest examples of Hopi pottery spanning six centuries, the Frankie and Howard Alper Collection of John Coleman Bronzes; and The Abe Hays Family Spirit of the West Collection, a showcase of more than 1,400 saddles, spurs, cowboy gear and other Old West objects.
For more information on Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West, go to Scottsdalemuseumwest.org.