Baby Lisanne Skyler on the Brillo Box (1969) (photo © the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Brillo trademark used with permission of Armaly Brands, Inc., photo courtesy HBO)
Few works of modern art are as iconic as Andy Warhol’s “Brillo Boxes,” replicas of the commonplace supermarket item that epitomized the shift from emotive Abstract Expressionism to cool Pop Art in the 1960s. Since Warhol first created them in 1964, the art market has astronomically grown, with one fetching a record-breaking $3 million at a 2010 Christie’s auction.
A new documentary by director Lisanne Skyler, Brillo Box (3¢ OFF) tells the story of that particular box, which her parents bought for $1,000 in 1969. Unfortunately they sold it long before its value skyrocketed, and the film traces its journey from their home to the auction block, considering its role in both their family history as well as the global art market. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is screening the film this Sunday, before its HBO debut on August 7, and will be followed by a discussion between Skyler and curator Stephanie Barron. The screening is presented in conjunction with the museum’s exhibition on Dwan Gallery, the bicoastal gallery headed by pioneering dealer Virginia Dwan, one of the first gallerists to exhibit the Brillo Boxes.
International group of bidders at Christie’s for the Andy Warhol Brillo Box (photo courtesy HBO)
When: Sunday, July 30, 1pm
Where: Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) (5905 Wilshire Boulevard, Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles)
More info here.
