ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | AUGUST 7, 2022
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Colorado artist Annette Coleman designed the colorful mosaic sculpture called “Pinball Wizard” for the Old Town splash pad. (David Minton/Progress Staff Photographer)
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Polly and Scott Larsen of The Larsen Gallery display the 1965 self-portrait by Andy Warhol at their Scottsdale Gallery. (David Minton/Progress Staff Photographer)
Old Town splash pad gets Larsen Galley to auction ‘Pinball Wizard’ sculpture Warhol self-portrait BY ALEX GALLAGHER Progress Staff Writer
I
t wasn’t long after the initial construction of the splash pad on the south side of the Marshall Way Bridge near Stetson Drive and 6th Avenue that Scottsdale officials decided it needed some beauty. The splash pad, which wrapped up construction in early 2020, had only been open for just over seven months when they approached Scottsdale Public Art to liven up the blank steps that were originally supposed to be a cascading waterfall. “There used to be steps and water that would fall over it and it got turned off, so it just wasn’t a very pretty backdrop for splash pads,” explained Tanya Galin, the public art manager at Scottsdale Public Art.” Galin and Scottsdale Public Art issued a nationwide call to artists interested in garnishing the newly built splash pad that was
built to replace a patch of grass by the fountain nearest to Stetson Drive. That was when Scottsdale Public Art found Littleton, Colorado, multimedia artist Annette Coleman, who had a unique idea to jazz up the space. “The city wanted to make sure to beautify the area around the splash pads,” Galin said. “When we put together the artist selection panel, they then helped kind of narrow down what they thought would look nice in the area.” Area business owners, Scottsdale Arts staff and city staff and the board helped devise a clearer image of what they were hoping would dress up the blank steps. The team consulted with Coleman, who had her own concerns. “When I took a look at the site, there were quite a few cracks and if I were to put mosaics right on top of that surface, they
see PINBALL page 34
BY ALEX GALLAGHER Progress Staff Writer
S
ome Andy Warhol paintings can’t shake controversy. And that is true of a self-portrait that will be auctioned this fall at the Larsen Gallery at 3705 N. Bishop Lane, Scottsdale. The controversy has its roots in 1964, when Richard Ekstract, a publisher of magazines about consumer electronics, acquired Tape Recording magazine. After he and designer Peter Palazzo had spruced up the new publication, editor Robert Angus decided it would be a neat idea to review videotapes and video cameras. Not long after Tape Recording magazine began publishing its reviews, Ekstract began receiving phone calls from famed artist Andy Warhol asking if he could use discarded videotapes that the magazine had used in reviewing projects he had been working on.
Ekstract provided him with a few tapes and a year later, Warhol asked for a favor that would cement his and Ekstract’s legacies. “A couple of years after I first met Andy, he decided that he was going to switch from making his underground movies and instead of using a camera, he would use videotape,” Ekstract recalled. Warhol had his eye on a high-dollar piece of equipment, a Phillips Norelco videotape recorder, video camera and recording tape. Ekstract was able to secure the equipment on a loan from Phillips Norelco and the equipment was used to record Warhol’s first underground film “Outer and Inner Space.” After the filming, Ekstract decided it would be a fun idea to host a party for the introduction of the tape underneath the Waldorf Astoria Hotel near train track 61
see WARHOL page 34
