With Introductions by Cultural Historian Steven Watson,
Author of Factory Made: Warhol and the Sixties

The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs presents Warhol on Film, a two-night examination of films created and inspired by Andy Warhol and his Silver Factory studio. The free series will take place on Friday, November 14, and Saturday, November 15 at 8:00pm in the Claudia Cassidy Theater of the Chicago Cultural Center, 77 E. Randolph St. Both evenings will include introductions by cultural historian Steven Watson, author of Factory Made: Warhol and the Sixties. Please note that parental guidance is suggested for both evenings.

Although Andy Warhol is best remembered for his iconic pop-art silk-screen paintings, he also oversaw the creation of more than 500 avant-garde films during the 1960s. The films were produced at his Silver Factory studio in New York City, so named because it was covered in tinfoil and painted silver by Warhol friend and colleague Billy Name. The films were created through the rich interaction between Warhol and his collaborators at the Silver Factory, including Edie Sedgwick, Taylor Mead, Viva, Ultra Violet, Lou Reed, Mary Woronov, Ondine, and John Cale.

Dr. Steven Watson is a cultural historian who is particularly interested in the group dynamics of the twentieth-century American avant-garde. Factory Made: Warhol and the Sixties will be published on October 21, 2003. He is also creating a documentary about the Silver Factory, drawing from 100+ hours of video interviews with survivors of the Factory's heyday.

Friday, November 14

Vinyl (1965, 66 minutes, 16mm)
The movie, featuring Gerard Malanga, Edie Sedgwick, and four other Warhol collaborators, is the Factory version of Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange rewritten by Ronald Tavel. With its whips and rock music, it now looks like a precursor to the Velvet Underground, the rock group produced by Warhol.

Also: A DVD film by Ron Nameth about the Exploding Plastic Inevitable shot in Chicago at Poor Richards in the summer of 1966.

Saturday, November 15

Trash (1970, XXX, DVD)
Paul Morrissey's Trash, featuring Holly Woodlawn and Joe Dallesandro was the breakthrough film that made the Warhol aesthetic a popular phenomenon at the box office, and introduced an unseen lifestyle to mainstream America.

Also: selections from a DVD called "Visions of Warhol" (short films of the Factory, the Exploding Plastic Inevitable, the Silver Clouds) as well as several screen tests (3 minutes each.) Watson will also introduce unseen interview clips with Holly Woodlawn.

For more information on this or other Chicago Cultural Center programs, please call the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs at 312-744-6630, or visit www.cityofchicago.org/culturalcenter/.