The use of cameras or recording equipment during the 

performance is not allowed. Please be sure that cell phones,

pagers, and other electronic devices are turned off'.

Music Department

National Gallery ofArt

Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue nw

Washington, dc

wunv.nga.gov

cover: Paul Stevenson Oles, Sketch ofthe East Building Exterior, 1971,

National Gallery ofArt Archives, Gift of I. M. Pei and Partners

Dean & Britta

13 Most Beautiful...

Songs for Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests

Presented in honor of

Warhol: Headlines

by the National Gallery ofArt

November 12, 2011

Saturday, 4:00 pm

East Building Auditorium

Admissionfree
Program

Andy Warhol Screen Tests, (1964-1966)

Screen Test 272: Richard Rheem

“Richard Rheem Theme”

Screen Test 33; Ann Buchanan

“Ann Buchanan Theme”

Screen Test 4: Paul America

“Teenage Lightning (and Lonely Highways)”

Screen Test 308: Edie Sedgwick

“It Don’t Rain in Beverly Hills”

Screen Test 194: Billy Name

“Silver Factory”

Screen Test 28: Susan Bottomly

“International Velvet Theme”

Screen Test 135; Dennis Hopper

“Herringbone Tweed”

Screen Test 357: Mary Woronov

“I Found It Not So”

Screen Test 238: Nico

“I’ll Keep It With Mine”

Screen Test 137: Freddy Herko

“Incandescent Innocent”
Screen Testjjj: Ingrid Superstar

“Eyes in My Smoke”

Screen Test 269: Lou Reed

“Not a Young Man Anymore”

Screen Test 147: Jane Holzer

“Knives from Bavaria”

16mm film transferred to Beta sp videotape

Collection ofThe Andy Warhol Museum

Contribution ofThe Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

All films ©2008 The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,

a museum ofCarnegie Institute. All rights reserved.

The project was jointly commissioned by The Andy Warhol Museum

and the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust for the 2008 Pittsburgh International

Festival of Firsts and was developed by Ben Harrison, curator ofperforming arts, with Geralyn Huxley, curator offilm and video, and Greg

Pierce, assistant curator offilm and video ofThe Andy Warhol Museum.

The Performers

Dean Wareham, vocals, guitars

Britta Phillips, vocals, bass, keyboard

Matt Sumrow, keyboards, guitars

Anthony LaMarca, drums, bass, acoustic guitar, samples

Production Design by Clear Story Creative 

Rob Long, Lighting Designer

Doug McDermott, Lighting Designer

Scott Nelson, Lighting Designer

David Mann, Sound Engineer
Program Notes

RE-MIX, re-envision:

COMMISSIONING SONGS FOR ANDY WARHOl’S SCREEN TESTS

The Andy Warhol Museum inspires audiences by using its collection to further understanding and appreciation ofWarhol’s art and life, often by recontextualizing his work in ways that resonate in contemporary culture. To

illuminate the relevancy of an artist who had an eye on the high/low crossroads and who created work that could be experienced in a gallery, a cinema,

or on a music stage where rock shows are presented, the museum has authorized use ofWarhol’s films as a catalyst for a new performance commission.

Among Warhol’s films, the Screen Tests seem to be intended for multiple

presentation contexts. Not only were they shown at his studio, the Factory, and

as short subjects in avant-garde screenings, but these silent four-minute film 

portraits were a primary visual component of his multimedia happenings

Andy Warhol Uptight (1966) and the Exploding Plastic Inevitable (1967). These

shows featured live performances by the Velvet Underground and Nico, and

provided a precedent and historic basis for this film/performance initiative.

In commissioning musicians to compose, arrange, and perform songs

for the films, it was necessary to make a selection from among the almost

three hundred Screen Tests that have been preserved. Warhol’s conceptual

sub-series Thirteen Most Beautiful Women and Thirteen Most Beautiful Boys

presented a convenient and intriguing model for the structure ofthe project.

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Thirteen four-minute Screen Tests run about an hour, fitting the typical length

of a live music set, and thirteen is also an appropriate number ofsongs for a

full-length record. Also, given that the four-minute length is typical of a standard pop song, we imagined that the music could involve a narrative songwriting approach with lyrics whose imagery could either tangentially evoke

the “essence” ofthe filmed subject, particularly for the lesser-known subjects,

or provide a more direct homage.

Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips are uniquely appropriate for this

project on many levels, including the overall “dream pop” sensibility oftheir

former indie-pop band, Luna, known for its combination of both churning

and languid rhythms, entrancingly melodic guitar hooks, and clever and

wistful lyrics, as well as the often referenced Velvet Underground influence

in their music. In addition, Wareham and Phillips have a keen interest in

1960s Italian and French New Wave cinema and have created scores for

recent films such as Noah Baumbach’s The Squid e[ the Whale and Olivier 

Assayas’ Clean. Their songs provide not only a new context for experiencing

Warhol’s films, but also a juxtaposition that may reveal new or previously

hidden qualities in these engaging film portraits.

Warhol: Headlines remains on view in the East Building through

January 2, 2012.

Program notes by Ben Harrison, curator of performing arts, and Geralyn Huxley,

curator offlm and video at the Andy Warhol Museum.

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