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One of Kim Gordon's pieces that will be on exhibition at The Warhol Museum (© Kim Gordon. Courtesy 303 Gallery)

Kim Gordon art exhibition coming to the Warhol Museum in May

Kim Gordon will have her first solo North American art exhibition at Pittsburgh’s Warhol Museum from May 17–September 1, 2019. Titled “Kim Gordon: Lo-Fi Glamour,” the exhibit will feature paintings, sculptures, a new series of figure drawings, and a commissioned score for Andy Warhol’s 1963–64 silent film Kiss. That score, Sounds for Andy Warhol’s Kiss, was recorded live in the Warhol Theater in August 2018 and features her Body/Head collaborator Bill Nace, as well as Steve Gunn and John Truscinski. There will be a double-LP vinyl release of the score available in conjuction with the exhibition, with music on three sides and a silk-screened image from Kiss on the fourth. The LP also comes with a booklet of work from “Lo-Fi Glamour” and a book of essays. You can check out the artwork, and read more about “Kim Gordon: Lo-Fi Glamour” below.

Body/Head released The Switch last year.

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Celebrated for her work as a founding member of the experimental post-punk band Sonic Youth, Kim Gordon is a multi-disciplinary artist and thinker who has worked in fashion, publishing, film and music. In the 1980s, it was through art that she found music, coming to Sonic Youth sideways from an early interest in art, aesthetics, and performance. Gordon never trained as a musician. Instead, she went to art school at the Otis College of Art and Design. In her early years, Gordon immersed herself in artistic circles by forming close relationships with Mike Kelley in Los Angeles and Dan Graham, and young artists from the burgeoning art movement, the Pictures Generation in New York. In 1980, just a year after moving to New York, Gordon staged her first exhibition, Design Office, and a year later co-curated an exhibition of musicians for Noise Fest both at the artist led, White Columns. In the early 2000s, she returned to her artistic pursuits with new gusto, developing a series of canvases she refers to as Noise Name paintings, which are inspired by her musical roots. Her sculpture of silver glitter takes inspiration from the lo-fi aesthetic of Warhol’s Silver Factory and her paintings echo the raw, graffiti-aesthetic of noise bands of the 1980s. The exhibition will also feature figure drawings and erotic sculptures, paring intimate works that compliment the elegance and intimacy of Warhol’s Kiss.

Gordon cites Warhol as one of her artistic influences, particularly the lo-fi aesthetic of Warhol’s studio, as well as his involvement with the Velvet Underground, and his multi-disciplinary practice in fashion, painting, music, publishing, and performance. The exhibition and commissioned score, Sound for Andy Warhol’s Kiss honors Gordon’s early interests in Warhol while also spotlighting the development of her artistic voice.

Kim Gordon: Lo-Fi Glamour is curated by Jessica Beck, Milton Fine curator of art and Ben Harrison, curator of performance arts & special projects at The Warhol. A limited-edition vinyl record of Gordon’s commissioned score, performed with fellow musicians Bill Nace, Steve Gunn, and John Truscinski, and a booklet of essays that contextualize her artistic practice accompany the exhibition.