Inside the Brooklyn Museum’s Vatican-Backed Andy Warhol Exhibition

Support for the arts? We love it. On Monday night, two of our editors made their way to the Bryant Park Grill for a celebratory dinner and auction marking the opening night of Andy Warhol: Revelation—a brand new exhibition at our beloved Brooklyn Museum and guest-curated by the Chief curator of The Andy Warhol Museum, José Carlos Diaz. “Although his Catholicism was compartmentalized, like his sexuality, this can be better understood in the exhibition,” said Diaz to Interview about Revelation. The evening—full of strong cocktails and sparkling company—was followed by a spin through the Brooklyn Museum where the exhibition will be on view through June of next year. Below, Interview editors wax poetic about their night on the town.

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ERNESTO MACIAS: A party honoring Andy Warhol, hosted by the director of THE Andy Warhol Museum? Honestly, a must-go. So, I put on my yellow sunglasses and made my way to Bryant Park. Billy Porter and Kaws co-hosted the dinner—hot—and I watched Renell Medrano and ASAP Ferg talk art with the co-curators of the exhibition for hours, while Interview legend Patrick McMullan captured the night’s vibes. Cheers to the guest across from me who bought two paintings for 30K in the first 15 min. We love support for the arts.

MITCHELL NUGENT: My love for art auctions is almost as fervent as my love for drinking martinis on an empty stomach. Luckily for me, the Warhol Museum dinner on Monday night provided a sublime opportunity to partake in both. As a rule of thumb, I try to avoid Monday events of every kind, as Tuesday hangovers are simply intolerable. But this invitation drew me in—particularly because Bob Colacello, one of my idols and Interview’s former editor, was rumored to be attending. Post-welcome drinks, I scoured the Bryant Park Grill for my seating assignment, only to find Mr. Colacello’s place card just a few seats away from my own. He didn’t show, but that’s alright.”

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MACIAS: I had my main character moment walking down Eastern Parkway to the Museum. The show took me back to my Tumblr days, seeing Andy’s Knives literally everywhere. There were pieces I had never seen before, like a big cross diptych. I grew up Catholic, so that one hit home for me, as did Andy’s general worship of women—Marilyn, Jackie, and his mother. I was surprised to learn that the exhibition started thanks to the Vatican—kinda hot, right?

NUGENT: I had a House of Gucci hangover on the night of our Museum visit. Even though I didn’t have a single drink at the film’s premiere the night before—only Dasani water and stale popcorn—the cacophony of attempted Italian accents in that film left me reeling on my way to visit Andy Warhol: Revelation. Even so, I just have to say: WOW. I’ve been more than two dozen Warhol exhibitions, and Revelation easily breaks into the top five for me. The curators resurfaced so many rarely-seen works from Warhol’s oeuvre that I’ve never experienced IRL. I’m already planning my next visit.