Andy Warhol: The Polaroids Hits Tryon, NC — Plus an After-Dark Warhol Unveiling

This spring, downtown Tryon transforms into a Pop Art fever dream.

Andy Warhol: The Polaroids arrives at Tryon Fine Arts Center (TFAC) from February 27 through April 24, delivering a rare selection of Warhol’s iconic instant photographs. Then, on Saturday, March 7, the night turns electric as Mirrorball Gallery + Lounge hosts Andy After Hours — an adults-only unveiling of rarely seen Warhol Polaroid nudes in its Studio Lounge.

Two exhibitions. One downtown. Zero chill.

If you think you know Warhol because of Marilyn and the soup cans, think again.

Warhol Beyond the Wig

Andy Warhol wasn’t just the silver-haired oracle of Pop Art. He was contradiction embodied: Studio 54 regular and shy observer, fame architect and quiet documentarian. At Studio 54, he floated among the rich and notorious. Behind the scenes, he was watching — always watching.

A leading force in the Pop Art movement, Warhol dissected celebrity, consumerism, identity, and desire. His silkscreens shook the art world. His films challenged it. But the Polaroid camera? That was his scalpel.

The Polaroid as Power Move

Warhol carried his Polaroid everywhere. What started as reference material for paintings evolved into standalone works — intimate, immediate, disarmingly raw.

The exhibition at TFAC features selections from a collection of 152 photographs donated to the University of South Carolina Upstate in 2008 by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts through its Photographic Legacy Program. Nationally, the Foundation has distributed more than 52,000 works to institutions across the U.S., extending Warhol’s posthumous cultural reach.

Curated by Leah Mulligan Cabinum of USC Upstate, this presentation strips away the myth and brings you face-to-face with Warhol the maker — camera in hand, flash exploding, culture crystallizing in real time.

Polaroids feel different in person. The scale. The gloss. The tension between subject and photographer. It’s not filtered. It’s immediate. It’s alive.

March 7: Walk, Talk, Then Party Like It’s 1979

The March 7 opening reception at TFAC runs from 4:30–6:30 PM and includes a Walk and Talk (4:30–5:15 PM) with Jane Nodine, Professor of Art and Director of the Curtis R. Harley Gallery at USC Upstate.

Then? You follow the glitter.

At 6:00 PM, just steps away at 84 Pacolet Street, Mirrorball flips the switch.

Andy After Hours: Warhol Uncensored

Andy After Hours is not the polite version.

Mirrorball unveils a limited, adults-only presentation of Warhol’s rarely seen Polaroid nudes — risqué, intimate, unapologetic. It’s Warhol unfiltered. Warhol exposed. Warhol as cultural provocateur.

Expect disco energy, New Wave attitude, and downtown Tryon nightlife at full voltage. Glitter encouraged. Glam mandatory. Think punk, think disco queen, think art-world decadence with Southern edge.

Hosted by Mirrorball owners Alex Page and E. Vincent Martinez, the night channels Warhol’s anything-goes ethos — where art, fashion, and spectacle blur into one shimmering moment.

Why Tryon, Why Now?

Tryon has long been a creative enclave, but this exhibition pairing elevates it into a regional art destination. For visitors from Asheville, Greenville, Charlotte, Atlanta, and beyond, this is more than an opening — it’s a cultural weekend.

Gallery by day. Warhol after dark.

Event Details

Andy Warhol: The Polaroids
February 27 – April 24
Tryon Fine Arts Center
Tryon, North Carolina

Opening Reception
Saturday, March 7 | 4:30–6:30 PM
Walk & Talk: 4:30–5:15 PM

Andy After Hours (Adults Only)
Saturday, March 7 | Begins at 6:00 PM
Mirrorball Gallery + Lounge
84 Pacolet Street, Downtown Tryon

Warhol is endlessly reproduced. But Polaroids are personal. They pulse. They breathe. They catch you off guard.

This is your chance to see them up close — raw, immediate, iconic — and then step into the glittering after-hours energy Warhol would have understood instinctively.

Tryon is ready. Are you?

FASHIONADO