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Emily Meyer
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THE WORD OF GOD: JEFFREY VALLANCE
(Pittsburgh, PA)…November 8, 2011… The Andy Warhol Museum announces its
latest special exhibition, The Word of God: Jeffrey Vallance.
The Word of God: Jeffrey Vallance
Jeffrey Vallance is a California artist who creates objects, installations, performance
and curatorial works. Vallance’s process is based in his interactions with
institutions, communities, politicians, religions, museums and pop-culture figures.
Some of his past projects have included traveling throughout Polynesia in search of
the origin of the myth of Tiki; creating a Richard Nixon Museum; and traveling to
the Vatican, Turin, and Milan, Italy to study Christian relics. Vallance’s interest in
the relics and religion brings his work to the Word of God series. This exhibition
features The Vallance Bible, a series of writings based on Vallance’s personal
experiences, spiritual upbringing, studies and reading as well as reliquary objects.
Jeffrey Vallance, Juliet’s Balcony, Verona, 2006,
courtesy the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New
York
The Vallance Bible includes a preface, a foreword, a gospel original - The Gospel
According to Jeffrey - and a series of reproductions of works in connection with
religion, the Reformation and John Calvin. This illustrated bible, published the year
of the 500th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin (Jubilee), will be co-published
and distributed by Grand Central Press and Centre d’édition contemporaine.
The exhibition also contains a selection of Vallance’s reliquary objects. Vallance
has a vast historical and cultural knowledge of the tradition of relics and believes
“they are among the most beautiful and wondrous art objects created by
humankind.” His reliquaries, like Warhol’s Time Capsules, store and revere
mementos of people, places and things.
Jeffrey Vallance, Holy of Holies: Lutheran Relics,
2007, courtesy the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery,
New York
The Andy Warhol Museum
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Pittsburgh, PA 15212-5890
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One of the four Carnegie Museums of
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Beginning in the early 1960s, Vallance became interested in relics and religious
history. He states, “I turned my entire bedroom into a museum and frequently
invited people over to see the installation of artifacts.” Similar to early Christians
who used pagan or profane boxes to store their precious relics, Vallance collects
“boxes not originally designed as reliquaries. I take these profane boxes, install a
window in the front, carve various elements, and attach heaps of ornate molding. I
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THE WORD OF GOD: JEFFREY VALLANCE
then paint, gild, and antique them, and finally apply a patina, resulting in as many as
ten layers of finishes.”
Vallance says of his reliquary project, “I intend no sacrilege toward relics; I am
using the convention of reliquaries as a conceptual framing device to produce a kind
of autobiography rendered in personal artifacts. My process of relic accumulation is
a lifelong project, with some relics generated intentionally and some accidentally,
and it will continue long after the end of this specific project.”
The Word of God: Jeffrey Vallance, curated by Abby Franzen-Sheehan, associate
curator of education and interpretation, and Eric Shiner, director, is on view
December 11, 2011 through February 5, 2012.
This exhibition is the fifth and final in The Word of God series, which examines
major world religions and their texts through contemporary art. Sacred texts are
considered by many to be the direct words of God to man. How this Word is passed
down and received is dependent on the people, languages and cultures in which it is
presented. This series explores the questions: what is the best version of the Word of
God; and does the artistic rendering of it enhance understanding or is some essential
truth lost in translation?
The Warhol wishes to thank the lenders: The Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York
City; The Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles; and Jeffrey Vallance. Additional
thanks to The Community Advisory Committee for The Word of God Series:
Jeffrey Cohan (Director of Community and Public Affairs, Jewish Federation of
Greater Pittsburgh); Kyoki Roberts (Head Priest, Zen Center of Pittsburgh); Bill
Stout (Docent Director, St. Nicholas Church); Carole Brueckner (Committee
Chairperson, Saint Anthony Chapel); Diane Novosel (Chair, Millvale Murals
Preservation Society); Malke Frank (Director/Founder The Jewish Women’s Center
of Pittsburgh); David Pohl (Artist); Rabbi Amy Hertz (Rodef Shalom
Congregation); Reverend Tom Bodie (Unitarian Universalist Church); Wanda
Guthrie (Spiritual Progressives, The Thomas Merton Center); Luqmon Abdus
Salaam (Light of the Age Mosque); Von Keairns (Religious Society of Friends);
Doug Spencer and Lakia Brown (Allegheny Children’s Initiative); Adil Mansoor
(Artist-Educator, The Andy Warhol Museum); Anahita Firouz, (Cofounder of
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THE WORD OF GOD: JEFFREY VALLANCE
Pittsburgh Near East Institute and Board Member; novelist); Robert Maddock
(Pittsburgh Interfaith Impact Network); Susan Kendall (Pittsburgh Theological
Seminary, Director of Doctor of Ministry Program); Thomas Sokolowski
(Independent curator and scholar of contemporary art); Tresa Varner (Curator of
Education The Andy Warhol Museum); Maritza Mosquera (Community Liaison,
The Andy Warhol Museum); Mary Martin (Artist); Melissa Hiller (Director,
American Jewish Museum of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh).
The Warhol has, in its seventeen year history, presented difficult or controversial
imagery and art in order to spark community dialogue. The dialogues and visitor
experiences from such encounters with art and images are powerful and potentially
community changing.
Exhibition Related Public Programming
As part of The Word of God, The Warhol is presenting an ongoing series of public
dialogues and gallery talks by various scholars, community activists, artists and
religious leaders. The goals of these programs are to provide context for the artist’s
work and to spark dialogue about the issues raised in each exhibition.
Opening Celebration - The Word of God: Jeffrey Vallance
Sunday, December 11, 2011
2 p.m. Jeffrey Vallance Talk – seating is limited
3 pm.. Reception – coffee, tea, lite bites and cash wine bar
Join us as we celebrate the opening of our fifth and final exhibition in The Word of
God series, The Word of God: Jeffrey Vallance.
Free with Museum admission
The Word of God Series
The Word of God: Sandow Birk’s American Qur'an
February 26 - May 1, 2011
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THE WORD OF GOD: JEFFREY VALLANCE
The Word of God: Helène Aylon, The Liberation of G-d and The Unmentionable
May 8 - June 26, 2011
The Word of God(ess): Chitra Ganesh
July 9 - September 4, 2011
The Word of God: Max Gimblett The Sound of One Hand
September 17 - November 27, 2011
The Word of God: Jeffrey Vallance
December 11, 2011 - February 5, 2012
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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.
About The Andy Warhol Museum
Located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the place of Andy Warhol’s birth, The Warhol
is one of the most comprehensive single-artist museums in the world. The Andy
Warhol Museum is one of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. Additional
information about The Warhol is available at www.warhol.org.
About Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh
Founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1895, Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh is a
collection of four distinctive museums dedicated to exploration through art and
science: Carnegie Museum of Art, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Carnegie
Science Center, and The Andy Warhol Museum.
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THE WORD OF GOD: JEFFREY VALLANCE
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Tues, Wed, Thurs, Sat and Sun 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Fri, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Mon closed
Admission:
Members – free
Good Fridays 5-10 p.m., Half-price Museum admission
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