CLAMP presents 'Other Sides of Andy' featuring rare Warhol works and candid portraits
Meryl Meisler; "Andy Warhol Smiling with Eyes Closed (Between his Friend and JudiJupiter)," Studio 54, NY, NY, July 1977/printed later; Gelatin silver print; 20 x 16 inches, sheet.
NEW YORK, NY.—
CLAMP is presenting “Other Sides of Andy,” an exhibition on the gallery’s mezzanine featuring artworks by Andy Warhol (1928–1987), alongside photographs of Warhol captured by his contemporaries. Together, these pieces reveal lesser-known facets of the pop icon’s personality, private life, and creative interests.
The exhibition features original Polaroids from Warhol’s provocative late-1970s series, “Torsos” (1977) and “Sex Parts” (1978). Keenly aware of the art world’s conservative climate at the time, Warhol recognized that such explicit erotic imagery would not be well-received by traditional museums or private collectors. As a result, much of this material was originally sold quietly and directly from his studio. Crucial to this era was Warhol’s confidante Victor Hugo, who modeled for many of the images and actively recruited other men to pose during after-hours sessions at The Factory. The exhibition includes a Warhol portrait of Hugo in “disarray”—perhaps after a long night of parties in the city.
The show also features three pieces by Christopher Makos, a close friend whom Warhol dubbed “the most modern photographer in America.” In the early 1980s, Makos collaborated with Warhol on “Altered Images,” a landmark series of photographs depicting Warhol in drag. Not meant to present Warhol as beautiful, the photographs were shot to show the way it feels to be beautiful. Two portraits from this series are highlighted along with an enlarged contact sheet from a studio session, which captures Warhol in his quotidian uniform of blue jeans, boots, and a wig.
The narrative of Warhol’s private and social spheres is further enriched by several key documentary photographs:
• Jimmy DeSana’s 1977 photograph captures a rare behind-the-scenes moment, showing Warhol in the act of shooting Polaroids of a supine Victor Hugo naked and on full display.
• Meryl Meisler’s 1977 portrait offers an unusually warm, candid glimpse of Warhol at Studio 54. Grinning widely with his eyes closed while wearing a seersucker blazer and repp tie, the image is a beautiful contrast to Warhol’s famous claim: “I want to be a machine.”
• Bob Adelman’s 1965 photograph captures Warhol sharing an intimate moment of laughter and camaraderie with fellow pop icons Roy Lichtenstein and Robert Rauschenberg during a party at Rauschenberg’s studio. The image serves as a powerful reminder that while these three visionaries fiercely competed for artistic leadership, gallery space, and historical relevance, they were also peers redefining the landscape of American art.
