Industry News

Andy Warhol Invades the Bay Area! A Montana Cans Event

factoryparty09-045Amoeba Music stores, a long standing Bay Area institution in music, along with the East Bay Express, a local arts and entertainment paper, joined forces to bring Andy Warhol’s Factory back to life in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Friday, March 6th, they co-hosted a large warehouse party in Emeryville, CA, which featured multiple art exhibits, live music, a live spray paint demo, food and drink, and even a re-creation of Andy Warhol’s NYC Factory!

3334880894_fba7de855f1A huge brick warehouse was transformed into a multi-room art gallery, with different themes to each room.  The main attraction was the Factory room, which had been completely painted in silver, and offered live silk-screening on Art Alternatives canvas, live bands, and crazy characters to boot.  Other rooms offered a variety of Warhol-inspired artwork done by local artists.  Attendees could wander from the Black Light room to the Graffiti room to the Interactive Art room as they sampled food from local restaurants and indulged in the libations.  Another hit of the party was a live spray paint demo by local artist Mel Waters, using Montana Gold.  Mel painted a powerful portrait of Warhol himself, keeping in spirit with the party theme.  You can meet Mel at the MacPherson’s booth (#721) at this year’s NAMTA – he will be doing names in his own funky and playful style, so make sure to stop by and get yours!

The party was a smashing success with over 4,000 attendees.  A good sign that the love and appreciation for art is thriving even in these tough economic times.

factoryparty09-031Not coincidentally, the party was held at the same time the de Young Museum in San Francisco is featuring “Warhol Live”, a retrospective of Andy Warhol’s wide variety of work inspired by the legends of pop music.

Check out this cool video of the event (you’ll see our very own Lisa Slauson at the 2:50 and 4:40 marks!):

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