Artistic Beginnings

Living art fills out New Year’s celebration

Andy Warhol is coming to Crystal Bridges.

Of course the museum of American art has a number of the iconic artist’s works in its permanent collection, but on New Year’s Eve, Warhol himself will be there — in the form of artist Kat Wilson’s impersonation. She’ll interact with guests the way Warhol might have: taking Polaroid photos of them, interviewing them and recording them on an audio cassette recorder.

“He was so much about being around celebrities at parties and clubs, and that’s what he did, you know? He just documented everything,” Wilson says of the pop artist. “He would audio record the celebrities and people, or he’d take Polaroids, and his collection is just enormous. That way I can interact with people.”

Wilson is one of three local artists, along with Emily Chase and Ryan Tate, presenting live installations for the New 365 event. Wilson’s interactive performance piece also brings together friends and fellow artists Kris Johnson and Jessica Wurst to act in character as members of Warhol’s circle Jamie Wyeth and Dolly Parton, respectively.

“It’s going to be like if Andy Warhol was at a party,” Wilson assures. “The way [he] is portrayed in movies is definitely how I’m going to do it — he’s so aloof and slowtalking.”

By happy accident, Wilson’s choice to portray Warhol at the party perfectly complements Tate’s installation. Without any collaboration, Tate had similarly chosen to impersonate neo-expressionist artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, an extraordinarily close friend of Warhol’s, whose work is also on display in the museum’s 1940s to Now gallery. The two artists had a major influence on each other and have now given Wilson and Tate a direction for their own collaboration.

“We had been talking about having a show together for a while and this solidified it,” and also gave them a direction, Wilson says, referencing the promotional material for Warhol and Basquiat’s collaborative exhibition where the artists posed as if in a boxing match against one another.

“Weird how things just kind of develop,” she muses.

Around their interactions with Warhol, Basquiat, Wyeth and Parton, visitors will be entertained by the electronic hits of Jack Novak in the glowing disco room, can check out that swingin’ beat with Oklahoma City band Matt Stansberry & the Romance and can get a last look at temporary exhibition “Stuart Davis: In Full Swing.” But what does Wilson hope guests take away from her performance piece?

“I think I’ll just answer how Andy Warhol would answer: ‘What do you mean?’”