Press Release Kim Gordon: Lo-Fi Glamour

A painting of the words "Secret Abuse" in black paint on a white canvas.

Kim Gordon, Secret Abuse, 2009, Courtesy of the artist and 303 Gallery, New York

For immediate release

Wednesday, February 6, 2019

The Andy Warhol Museum announces Kim Gordon: Lo-Fi Glamour, opening May 17, 2019. Kim Gordon: Lo-Fi Glamour will mark the first solo, North American museum exhibition for Kim Gordon. A veteran of the avant-garde music scene and the co-founder of Sonic Youth, Gordon is hailed as a music icon. Her work as a visual artist, which has run parallel to her music career, has yet to be fully explored.

This project encompasses two separate but integrated components: a survey exhibition of Gordon’s paintings, drawings and sculpture, and a commissioned score titled Sound for Andy Warhol’s Kiss for Warhol’s 1963–64 silent film Kiss—Warhol’s hour-long silent film featuring fourteen couples: Naomi Levine, Pierre Restaney, Gerard Malanga, Jane Holzer, Philip van Rensselaer, Charlotte Gilbertson, John Palmer, Andrew Meyer, Mark Lancaster, Ed Sanders, Rufus Collins, Marisol, Harold Stevenson, Steven Holden and unidentified others.

In interviews and in her memoir Girl in a Band, Gordon cites Warhol as an early artistic influence and a source of inspiration, specifically the lo-fi glamour of his studio, the Silver Factory, and the multidisciplinary approach of his artistic practice. “I was interested in the lo-fi take on popular culture that Andy Warhol represented,” says Gordon in a 2013 interview with W Magazine.

The exhibition layout will feature new, never-before shown figure drawings, along with sculptures that highlight the eroticism and elegance of Warhol’s Kiss. The exhibition will also highlight Gordon’s persistent use of language in her paintings with obscure band names in her Noise Name paintings, and phrases lifted from the media for her Twitter Paintings.

In conjunction with the score commission Sound for Andy Warhol’s Kiss, a limited-edition vinyl double LP will be released. The LP, recorded live in The Warhol theater on August 1 and 2, 2018, includes the sound score by Kim Gordon, Bill Nace, Steve Gunn and John Truscinski. It will feature three sides of audio on clear vinyl, with a silkscreen still image from the film Kiss on the fourth side of the record, and an inserted booklet featuring work from the Kim Gordon: Lo-Fi Glamour exhibition. An insert of essays will accompany the vinyl.

To complement the exhibition, a schedule of public programs are being organized and will be announced at a later date.

This project is co-curated by Jessica Beck, Milton Fine curator of art, and Ben Harrison, curator of performing arts & special projects.

Kim Gordon: Lo-Fi Glamour is generously supported by Alexa and Adam Wolman.


The Warhol receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency; and The Heinz Endowments. Further support is provided by the Allegheny Regional Asset District.

The Andy Warhol Museum

Located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the place of Andy Warhol’s birth, The Andy Warhol Museum holds the largest collection of Warhol’s artworks and archival materials and is one of the most comprehensive single-artist museums in the world. The Warhol is one of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh.

Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh

Established in 1895 by Andrew Carnegie, Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh is a collection of four distinctive museums: Carnegie Museum of Art, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Carnegie Science Center, and The Andy Warhol Museum. The museums reach more than 1.4 million people a year through exhibitions, educational programs, outreach activities, and special events.

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Credit and copyright

Kim Gordon

Photo by David Black

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A photo of a woman with blond hair looking towards the camera. The photo is in a red tint.

Photo by David Black

Credit and copyright

Kim Gordon, Secret Abuse, 2009, Courtesy of the artist and 303 Gallery, New York

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A painting of the words "Secret Abuse" in black paint on a white canvas.

Kim Gordon, Secret Abuse, 2009, Courtesy of the artist and 303 Gallery, New York

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Kim Gordon, Ladies of the Paradise #10, 2016, courtesy of the artist and 303 Gallery, New York

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A silver 3D sculpture in a vertical rectangle on a white surface.

Kim Gordon, Ladies of the Paradise #10, 2016, courtesy of the artist and 303 Gallery, New York

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Kim Gordon, #Youdon'townme, 2017, courtesy of the artist and 303 Gallery, New York

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A painting of the words "#Youdon'townme" in yellow paint on a white canvas.

Kim Gordon, #Youdon'townme, 2017, courtesy of the artist and 303 Gallery, New York

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Kim Gordon, mirror wreath #2, 2016, courtesy of the artist and 303 Gallery, New York

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Black spray paint on a mirror.

Kim Gordon, mirror wreath #2, 2016, courtesy of the artist and 303 Gallery, New York

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Kim Gordon, Product Owner, 2017, courtesy of the artist and 303 Gallery, New York

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A painting of the words "Product Owner" in pink paint on a white canvas.

Kim Gordon, Product Owner, 2017, courtesy of the artist and 303 Gallery, New York

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Kim Gordon, Sickness, 2009, courtesy of the artist and 303 Gallery, New York

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A painting of the word "Sickness" in black paint on a white canvas.

Kim Gordon, Sickness, 2009, courtesy of the artist and 303 Gallery, New York

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Kim Gordon, Untitled, 2010, courtesy of the artist and 303 Gallery, New York

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A piece of wood leaning on a white wall with a black nylon stocking attached to it.

Kim Gordon, Untitled, 2010, courtesy of the artist and 303 Gallery, New York

Credit and copyright

Andy Warhol, Kiss, 1963-64. Pictured: Rufus Collins/Naomi Levine, ©2018 The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA, a museum of Carnegie Institute. All rights reserved. Film still courtesy The Andy Warhol Museum.

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A black and white film still close up of a man and woman kissing.

Andy Warhol, Kiss, 1963-64. Pictured: Rufus Collins/Naomi Levine, ©2018 The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA, a museum of Carnegie Institute. All rights reserved. Film still courtesy The Andy Warhol Museum.

Credit and copyright

Sound for Andy Warhol's Kiss LP cover

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A cover for an LP vinyl record album that has a black and white film still of two people kissing. At the top, it says, "Sound for Andy Warhol's Kiss" and "Kim Gordon, Bill Nace, Steve Gunn, John Truscinski"

Sound for Andy Warhol's Kiss LP cover