Get your Warhol on for free tickets in AGA Facebook contest

It should be noted that Andy Warhol’s legacy isn’t really about “15 minutes of fame” or painting a can of tomatoes. It’s his antipathy towards convention, and his drive to try new things. Warhol was one of the first pop culturalists to continually reinvent himself.

Given that the Art Gallery of Alberta’s big Warhol show, Andy Warhol: Manufactured, is starting next weekend, it’s appropriate to note that, sometimes, that reinvention wasn’t particularly attractive. Warhol’s schlock sex/horror movies could charitably said to have sucked more than an entirely tomato soup-based diet.

And his silent “screen tests” were stark, offering little in the way of optimism. Still, this montage of short film clips of his entourage and friends — including Lou Reed, Yoko, Ono and Salvador Dali — are entirely memorable, which is likely why the AGA has chosen them for a nifty Facebook contest.

The prize? Four tickets, a limo ride, and Superstar status for the night  at the ultra-hot Refinery Factory Party June 4, which is almost sold out already and will be long gone by the time the night comes around.

Notes the AGA: “The party will entertain guests with a variety of artist projects including a Time Capsule Project with Sarah Patterson, a ”Silkscreen Factory” with local artist-run centre SNAP, Super 8 video portraits by Zachary Ayotte, and an inventory of Refinery guests following the formula of Warhol’s Screen Tests. DJs Blue Jay and Travy D will spin sounds of the 60s and more, while snacks by Zinc Catering along with cash bars will be available throughout the Gallery.”

The party is using the Screen Tests as a theme. For the contest, upload a shot of yourself in black-and-white screen test style to the AGA’s contest page.

Then get everyone you know to like it. The pic with the most likes wins the contest, which closes one week from today, May 29.