Curator Conversation with John W. Smith and Vincent Fremont
Andy Warhol: Big Shot
October 14, 2020 5:30 pm - 6:15 pm
Andy Warhol. Artist. Celebrity. Icon. A household name and yet, mysterious. The center of activity at the Factory, but also intensely private. An incredibly prolific photographer, printmaker, designer, and painter, Warhol’s world was unrelentingly fast-paced and star-studded. His work is instantly recognizable, and his “fright-wigged” persona is part of our cultural lexicon. But who was Warhol when not behind the camera and what really happened at the Factory?
In conjunction with the Museum’s exhibition Andy Warhol: Big Shot, please join us as we dive into Warhol’s career, life at the Factory, and legacy. Senior Curator Francine Weiss will be joined by John W. Smith, Director of the RISD Museum and previously Assistant Director of collections and exhibitions at The Andy Warhol Museum, and Vincent Fremont, who worked at the Factory with Warhol for nearly 20 years, and is co-founder of the Warhol Foundation, for what will surely be a colorful and illuminating conversation.
This talk will be delivered live on Zoom. Registration link will be sent to ticket holders.
About the Speakers
Vincent Fremont
Vincent Fremont worked at Andy Warhol’s Factory for nearly two decades, starting when he arrived in New York from his native San Diego and until the artist’s death in 1987, serving for part of that time as the executive manager of the studio. As head of Warhol Enterprises, he produced video projects with the artist, including the shows Andy Warhol’s TV and Andy Warhol’s Fifteen Minutes. He was the foundation’s sales agent for Warhol paintings, drawings and sculptures from 1991 to 2010. After the artist’s death, he was a founding director of the Warhol Foundation. With his wife, Shelly Dunn, Fremont co-directed and co-produced the documentary Pie in the Sky: The Brigid Berlin Story, about the Warhol “superstar.”
John W. Smith
John Smith joined the Museum of Art Rhode Island School of Design in 2011. Prior to his arrival at RISD, John served as director of the Smithsonian Institution’s Archives of American Art (2006-2011), the world’s leading research center devoted to the study of the visual arts of America. Smith also served for 12 years at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, PA, as assistant director for collections, exhibitions, and research; he also served as interim director of the museum from 1995 to 1996. While at the Warhol Museum, Smith organized numerous exhibitions and published extensively on Warhol and his circle. Smith is a Board Member of the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation, the Association of Art Museum Directors, the New England Museum Association, and the RI Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission.