Touring Pike's Place Market, walking along the beach in Alki, and hitting up Safeco field for a Mariner's game are each typical Summer pastimes in Seattle.
These places are a given, but this summer another attraction joins that list: tributes to one of Seattle's most endearing icons, and personal photographs and Polaroid of perhaps the most eccentric pop artists of the last 50 years.
These icons are Kurt Cobain and Andy Warhol, and their exhibits are at the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) until September 6th, 2010.
The exhibits will be available for the same amount of time and they are both on the fourth floor, but the similarities end there.
The Warhol exhibit, titled "love fear pleasure lust pain glamour death: Andy Warhol Media Works", shows Warhol's photographs and films. These include Polaroid portraits, photo booth strips, screen tests, self portraits, and candid photographs sewn together.
The artist statements and brochures about the exhibit it explain that the photographs were meant as Warhol's sketchbook of sorts; a way for him to further work with his fascination of celebrity, image, and fame.
Some of the pictures are stunningly bold, like his Polaroid tests of several transvestites in profile. Others reveal what and who Warhol surrounded himself with. The photo booth strips reveal uncovered muse, Edie Sedgwick, and other Warhol Factory characters.
The screen tests are silent films of his actor and celebrity friends, like recently deceased Dennis Hopper, as they staring down the camera. The films show desire and vulnerability.
The best part of the Warhol exhibit is the interaction at the end of the exhibit. There is an old fashioned photo booth visitors are encouraged to use and clip their pictures to the wall opposite the machine. The photos cover a Warhol quote that reads:
"I don't think art should be for the select few, I think it should be for the mass of American people."
Next to Warhol Media Works is the Kurt Cobain exhibit, simply referred to as "Kurt". For Nirvana fans, some of the images are familiar, like the montage of photographs that show Cobain falling back into Dave Grohl's drum set, with Fender Mustang guitar in hand and strategically placed holes in his jeans. Other pieces will be a pleasant surprise.
Even though Cobain himself was an artist, both in 3-D form and on paper, none of the pieces in the exhibit are his own creations. Each piece is a local artist's effort to showcase the impact Cobain had on the Northwest, culture Generation X youth and beyond.
Though the Kurt exhibit shows breathtaking works of art that showcase his life and even his death, some hardcore Nirvana fans may be disappointed by that fact that the only song that's played is "Smells Like Teen Spirit". Indeed, "Smells like Teen Spirit" was the single to launch Nirvana's career but in essence, it didn't capture Cobain; he adamantly hated the song.
"In Bloom" or "Serve the Servants" would have probably had been more appropriate, but this a minor detail, one which certainly doesn't spoil the fun one has when they visit the exhibit.
Admission into the Seattle Art Museum are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and for military with ID ,$9 students with ID and youth 13-17, free for children 12 and under and free for SAM members.
The first Thursday of every month is free for all. For more information, go to the SAM website at seattleartmuseum.org or call the box office at 206-654-3121.
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