Giant Size Cigars $1.57 Each - and, All Things Andy Warhol at the Czech Museum

In 2016 I had the pleasure of viewing an Andy Warhol exhibit at the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  Afterward, I bought this small journal in the museum store (I can't resist a good museum store).  I didn't know exactly how I would use the journal, but I just had to have it.  It's about 4x7 inches and the pages feature some of Andy's quotes and designs.

Fast forward to the summer of 2017.   I was preparing to spend five weeks at a friend's house helping her after she had knee replacement surgery.  I wanted to take some art supplies, but since I was flying there I couldn't take much.  I finally settled on a few collage materials (vintage papers, small ephemera, glue sticks), and at the last minute I threw in my Andy Warhol journal.

One day when I had free time to art, I flipped through the journal looking for inspiration.  One page had a retro-looking "Giant Size $1.57 each" graphic in the corner.  I started digging through the vintage papers and ephemera I had with me, and had an aha moment when I came upon the cigar bands.  I had bought a large zipper bag full of cigar bands at a flea market last year, and had yet to use them in anything.  Some of them have sophisticated, detailed logos, and I found it interesting that the bands are predominantly gold and red, regardless of the brand.  (I personally like the ones that include a little black, as it makes them stand out.)  The red $1.57 graphic at the top coordinated well with the cigar bands, but there was another graphic in the bottom corner which did not.  I fixed that by covering it up with a page from an old Czech book.

I picked out as many different bands as I could find and arranged them in a pleasing pattern.  Any bands that extended beyond the edge of the page were trimmed, and those pieces were added in random places.  The final result is a striking collage which could be a lesson in marketing and product packaging.  (My scans don't do it any justice, as they don't show the gold and vibrant red colors well at all.)

"Andy and Edie" by Julius Cavira, in front of the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library in 2016.  Andy and Edie is an "Overalls All Over" statue created in celebration of Grant Wood's 125th birthday.

So, you're probably wondering how a Czech and Slovak museum in flyover country landed an Andy Warhol exhibit.  It just so happens that Andy's parents were immigrants from Slovakia, and the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library is the nation’s foremost institution collecting, preserving and interpreting Czech and Slovak history and culture in the United States.  The museum's reputation enables it to attract traveling exhibits that generally would be shown only in larger cities.  As the great-granddaughter of a Czech immigrant, I am proud and feel very fortunate to have such a facility in my hometown.  If you're ever in the area,  you should make time to stop there!  Without further ado, here are just a few photos from Immortal:  Warhol's Last Works, as exhibited at NCSML in 2016.

Annie Oakley

Geronimo on the left; John Wayne on the right

Buffalo Nickel

My friend Stephanie admiring Superman

Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West

Speed Skater

My final tidbit for this post is a piece of sidewalk chalk art that was completed near the Czech museum when the Warhol exhibit opened in May 2016.  I was able to see it before the rain washed it away, but unfortunately I don't know the artist's name.

Although the Andy Warhol exhibit, and of course the sidewalk chalk art, is long gone, you can still see the Andy and Edie statue (pictured above in front of the museum in 2016) inside the museum.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day.