This 13"h x 19"w overall (9.5"h x 14"w image size) digital photographic print on Epson Professional Photo paper is from an edition of 50 total prints signed, numbered and titled by the artist, photographer Nat Finkelstein (on verso). Published in 2007.
The Dom (the Polish word for "home") was a large ballroom and restaurant space created when 4 buildings were combined in the 1920s by its owners, the Polish National Home, who used it for organizational meetings and social gatherings. When its new owners were not ready to occupy the space, they sub-let it to Warhol, who used it to present his Exploding Plastic Inevitable (EPI) shows. The EPI performances featured films, projections (such as the photo of Nico on display in this photograph) and lighting directed by Warhol, as well as performances by The Velvet Underground & Nico and other entertainment provided by Warhol Factory regulars, including Gerard Malanga, Mary Woronov and Edie Sedgwick.
The final performance of The Exploding Plastic Inevitable at the Dom took place on April 30, 1966. A short time later, the performance space was incorporated into an entertainment complex called the "Electric Circus", which continued to present experimental films, music, light shows and kept the hedonistic party atmosphere going until it closed in 1971. In 2003, the ballrooms were closed and the building at 19-25 St. Marks Place (in NYC's East Village) became an upscale apartment building.
The Velvet Underground (aka The Velvets or The VU) were organized in the mid-1960's in New York City and, although they were not commercially successful during their time, the Velvet Underground have been regarded as one of the most important and influential groups of their era. Artist Andy Warhol became the band's manager in 1965 and his financial backing gave them the freedom to experiment broadly with their musical output. The band received wide public exposure as part of Warhol's travelling multimedia extravaganzas dubbed the "Exploding Plastic Inevitable", touring regularly through mid-1967.
Mysterious note - Danny Williams, the crew member responsible for the EPI's lights and sound, apparently committed suicide in 1967. His car and clothing were found off the coast of Cape Cod, but his body was never found...
For three years (1964-67), photographer Nat Finkelstein was on the scene, documenting the explosive emergence of Pop Art, a subversive spectacle created by the constantly calculating Andy Warhol (his book Andy Warhol: The Factory Years is "an extraordinary photographic account of the twisted, the addicted, the nameless, and the famous"). As the unofficial photojournalist and active member of the inner circle there, Finkelstein discreetly photographed many emerging stars, including Allen Ginsberg, Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, Brian Jones, Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground, Nico, Edie Sedgwick (of Factory Girl fame) along with the very-photogenic Warhol and other legends of art and literature such as Truman Capote, Marcel Duchamp and Salvador Dali.
|
