SARASOTA, FLA.- Remembering Warhol: Thirty Years Ago exhibits a collection of historic photographs of Pop artist Andy Warhol’s 1987 Memorial service at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, captured by photographer Christophe von Hohenberg on assignment for Vanity Fair. The Opening Night Reception is March 3 at Alfstad& Contemporary in Sarasota, Florida.

On April 1, 1987, two thousand invited guests arrived on foot, taxi and limousine at Fifth Avenue and 50th Street to walk through a throng of curious onlookers held back by NYPD blue, wooden barriers. Stationed in front of the cathedral, von Hohenberg took over 600 photos of what Grace Glueck of the New York Times called the "most droppable names” in the world of Hollywood, fashion, music, international society and art. He captured a veritable time capsule of the epochal era that Warhol helped shape.

The archival photographs and silver gelatin prints are exhibited with corresponding celebrity remembrances and antidotes that von Hohenberg collected from the attendees. Some, such as designer Diane von Furstenberg, sent back hand-written notes, others wrote on personal stationary. Collectively the letters are a testament to a social and cultural world that is fading into the ether of history.

“My photographs convey warmth and sadness, despite the high-glitz factor of that day,” says von Hohenberg. “Thirty years later, I still see Raquel Welch, defiant in a full-length fur coat, a serious Robert Mapplethorpe hurrying past the crowd and Liza Minnelli on the arm of Halston. The most Warholian of the subjects I photographed was Stephen Sprouse, arriving beside Deborah Harry, taking a drag on a cigarette. My favorite though, is an exterior shot of St. Patrick’s, hearses parked in front, because the Hitchcock-like angle of the shot sums up the whole event for me."

The exhibition runs March 4 - April 1, culminating with a special event the evening of April 1st, the 30th anniversary of the Memorial service. During the evening, von Hohenberg will sign copies of his book, Andy Warhol: The Day the Factory Died.

Christophe von Hohenberg
Von Hohenberg began his career in 1979 when he was discovered by American Vogue and worked for publications including Interview, Vanity Fair, Marie Claire, French and German Vogue, German Rolling Stone, Fortune, and The New York Times Magazine. In 2007, his critically acclaimed book Andy Warhol: The Day the Factory Died was awarded the AIG Book and Photobook District News Award. He has recently published an acclaimed book of photography: ANOTHER PLANET: New York Portraits, 19761996 and Shadows of the Gods: Mexico City is presently in production. His work has been included in two exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He has also had solo exhibitions at the Goss-Michael Foundation in Dallas and the Amerika Haus in Munich. The artist has exhibited extensively both in the United States and abroad. His work can be found in a multitude of private collections around the world. Von Hohenberg divides his time between New York City, The Hamptons and Mexico.

Christophe von Hohenberg, a Warhol friend and frequent Factory visitor, photographed a substantial number of those involved in the New York social, fashion and art world during the 1980s and 1990s. He was acquainted with many in the crowd rushing into St. Patrick’s on April 1, 1987.