Andy Warhol: Screen Tests, Sleep

This edition of Art at the Stair features two experimental film works by the artist Andy Warhol. For Screen Tests, Warhol shot more than 350 short film portraits of artists, writers, actors, musicians, and socialites. The 10 screened here include artists Salvador Dalí and Marcel Duchamp; poets John Giorno and Allen Ginsberg; musicians Bob Dylan, Nico, and Lou Reed; models Donyale Luna and Edie Sedgwick; and writer Susan Sontag. Played in slow motion, these dreamlike vignettes heighten every tiny movement—a blink, a breath, a flicker of self-consciousness.

Sleep captures American poet and artist John Giorno sleeping for more than five hours. Instead of narrative and action, Warhol offers the opposite: an extremely long film in which virtually nothing happens. The camera lingers on Giorno—Warhol’s romantic partner at the time—transforming his stillness into a hypnotic spectacle. The artwork defiantly tests your attention and redefines what a film can be.

Sleep will be screened on 7 August, 21 August, 28 August, 18 September, 25 September, and 2 October from 16:00–21:30. Audiences may bring their own sleeping bag, pillow, and bedding to M+ for a one-of-a-kind experience, to slow down and rest alongside John Giorno!

Warhol’s Screen Tests and Sleep complement our exhibition Dial-A-Poem Hong Kong in the Focus Gallery. John Giorno, who features in both of Warhols works, also launched Dial-A-Poem in 1969.

Known as the father of Pop Art, Andy Warhol (1928–1987, United States) used everyday goods and popular images to break down barriers between high art and mass media. His experimental films challenged the conventions of cinema and are among his most significant and influential works.

Art at the Stair is an exhibition series that showcases moving image works from the M+ Collection and on loan. Presented at the Grand Stair, the exhibitions feature a variety of artistic approaches seen in both historical and contemporary works that connect with ongoing exhibitions in the museum.