Eric Shiner, acting director of the Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, has now had the “acting” designation removed from his title.
In getting the nod to succeed Tom Sokolowski, who resigned the Warhol’s directorship, effective at the end of last year, Shiner had the inside track for the top spot, thanks to his insider status as curator at the Warhol since 2008. But he lacks the deep background in contemporary art and all-things-Warhol that Sokolowski brought to his lively 14-year tenure.
Before coming to the Warhol, Shiner’s area of specialization was contemporary Japanese art. Tom was not only a specialist in contemporary art, but had known Warhol and members of his circle. He enlivened tours through the museum (including mine, last July) with personal reminiscences of the era and its cast of characters, peppered with his own dead-on impersonations of the deadpan Warhol drawl.
[UPDATE: Shiner took exception to any suggestion that he is not deeply knowledgeable about contemporary art and Warhol, noting that he had been assistant curator of the 2001 Yokohama Triennale and had joined the Warhol Museum as curator in 2008.]
Tom might not have been such a good fit for PIttsburgh, however, as a candid interview after his resignation with Bill O’Driscoll of the Pittsburgh City Paper seemed to suggest. By contrast, the above-linked press release for Shiner’s appointment trumpets him as “a proud native of New Castle, PA”—about 50 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.