When asked about the difference between being a curator for his home and a curator at a gallery, permanent director of the Andy Warhol Museum Eric Shiner explained that in a gallery exhibition, the work has to tell a story and educate visitors about its artist or topic of focus as they progress through it, while a personal collection, on the other hand, is more about the conversations unique pieces have with one another. After visiting the young director’s personal collection in his well-groomed, loft-style apartment in Frendship, I could almost hear the colorful hodgepodge of contemporary Japanese art, sleek décor, and flea market gems, laughing and arguing. Yet, I feel there was a great deal more narrative in Mr. Shiner’s collection than his explanation implied. As the gentle yet debonair host chronicled his collection, I had a sense that he also effectively chronicled his life, while his humor and quirky experiences shone through in savory bits throughout.
What is most captivating about the nature of the pieces Mr. Shiner chooses to live with is their short-term history, from purchase to visitor speculation, and the personal relevance they have to him. There is an endearing quality with which he speaks about the work, the myriad places he recalls acquiring them, and the characters he acquires them from. A highlight was a “site-specific” piece by Ginger Brooks Takahashi made specifically for Shiner’s bedroom. While on tour with a musical act called Men, Takahashi collected driftwood from which she carved a beautifully executed series of dildos. After discussions between artist and collector concerning display, the two decided on suspending the dildos on an adjustable plant hanger above Shiner’s bed. Like other work featured in his bedroom, sexual themes instill humor rather than tension, and like other work featured in his collection, there’s a deal of absurdity that is at first alluring rather than off-putting.
While I feel the piece has charm and humor on its own, the story and the friendship between Shiner and Takahashi ads an element to the work and the way the work functions in the body as a whole that is not visible or even existent without Mr. Shiner’s colorful oral rendition of its most recent history. Similarly, the large, nineteenth-century Italian Mary statue that is eye-catching upon entering the space would just be another kitsch object without Mr. Shiner’s description of visitors kissing it back while it adorned his mother’s bedroom in New Castle, Pennsylvania.
The collection is a flavorful salsa of work from incredibly talented local artists like Homewood’s Vanessa German, rockstars like Yasumasa Morimura, and flea market junk that one could easily mistake for a contemporary masterwork. All of it has a precious quality to it, regardless of whether it is an expensive one of a kind thing, it was a unique gift, or if it cost something minimal at an auction. However, I feel this preciousness is incomplete without the richness of his soft-spoken commentary. Without it, we can remain amazed for reasons we might not entirely understand.
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