In 2008, the Andy Warhol Photographic Legacy Program donated a collection of 158 photographs by Andy Warhol to the Housatonic Museum of Art. Drawing on Warhol’s interest in the social and the collaborative, In the company of… is a group show that places the works of Jeremy Kost, Rashaad Newsome, Billy Sullivan, and Andy Warhol (as well as other artworks and pop culture materials) in the company of each other. In doing so, the exhibition explores some ways in which artists include their social circles as a subject or as a medium in their work.  The title is, consequently, two-fold: These artists are in the company of one another in the gallery and the company they keep outside of this space influences their work.

This exhibition, which is curated by Terri C Smith, takes one aspect of Warhol’s practice as a starting point for contemplating how some artists incorporate dynamics of personal relationships, social scenes, and professional networks (including celebrities) into their art. All of these artists are part director, part observer, part social alchemist, but their styles and media vary widely. Kost, Newsome and Sullivan share an attention to the social with Warhol, but also emphasize elements not located in Warhol’s practice, including intimacy between artist and subject (Sullivan), intricately directed/edited reworking of observed behaviors (Newsome), and highly stylized environmental portraits that imply a narrative (Kost).

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