Andy Warhol ~ 'Pop Politics' at the Currier Museum of Art |
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| Saturday, 27 September 2008 03:35 |
 For the first time ever, you will see Warhol’s political works together in this exhibition,” notes Sharon Matt Atkins, curator of Andy Warhol: Pop Politics. “His prints, paintings, drawings, and photographs of political figures reveal intriguing insights into Warhol’s own celebrity status and political leanings.” Warhol’s portraits of American presidents and presidential candidates, queens, Communist dictators, and other political figures comment on the interrelationships between politics and celebrity culture in the late twentieth century—connections that remain ever present today. Time to coincide with the 2008 presidential election, this exhibition offers a probing and entertaining look through the eyes of America’s most famous Pop artist at the leaders who shaped the twentieth century. Pop Art and Political Leaders - Warhol (1928-1987) rose to fame in the 1960s and became synonymous with Pop art and American culture of the period. He played upon the increased bombardment of advertising and media images to develop a signature style that employed commercial subjects rendered in bold, graphic designs and colors using mass production processes. In capturing the rebellious spirit of the time through his work and personality, Warhol created a body of work that transformed our understanding of art by blurring the boundaries between art and popular culture and shaped a new aesthetic that came to symbolize the counterculture. His now iconic work has influenced subsequent generations of artists and continues to resonate with audiences today, both young and old. Building upon a long history of political portraiture dating back to Egyptian pharaohs, Roman emperors, and European monarchs, Warhol pictured twentieth-century politicians in his graphic style which likened them to commercial products like Campbell’s soup and Coca-Cola. In so doing, Warhol connected his images of these leaders to America’s fascination and consumption of all aspects of contemporary culture. His portraits are not just records of the individuals; they also position the leaders within the context of cultural taste and political values.  A dedicated portraitist, Warhol captured the likeness of an astonishing number of individuals including those of friends, artists, actors, athletes, and world leaders. His depictions of John F. Kennedy, Mao Zedong, Queen Elizabeth II, and others were derived from widely circulated official or media photographs. Warhol’s appropriation of these stock images signaled his interest in how political leaders ascended to celebrity status as a result of their constant representation in the media. In addition to selecting certain leaders as his subjects, Warhol was also commissioned by political hopefuls such as Edward Kennedy and Jimmy Carter. Their patronage of Warhol was intended to help position them as contemporary and progressive. That these projects—like his print Vote McGovern featuring a green-faced Richard Nixon created to support George McGovern’s presidential campaign against the incumbent—were produced to raise funds for candidates’ presidential campaigns, illuminates an active, even if veiled, political agenda by Warhol, who claimed he only voted once. Warhol’s elevated status in American society also gave him entrée into the world of politics including invitations to governors’ mansions and state dinners at the White House. The exhibition highlights these portrait commissions through photographs, drawings, prints, and paintings of each subject. Warhol’s Artistic Process - Central to the exhibition’s focus is Warhol’s process for creating his portraits. The artist was more directly involved with his portrait commissions than with any other works. Rather than manipulating images he found in mass media outlets, Warhol began his commissions by taking dozens of Polaroid images of his subject. After selecting one or more of these photographs, Warhol transformed the sitter’s likeness into his signature style, often first producing drawings and then prints and paintings. This exhibition presents these Polaroids alongside related works of a single subject, capturing Warhol’s process as well as the repetition of images that became a hallmark of his work. This repeated image is further underscored with the inclusion of a large section of Mao wallpaper that the artist created for a gallery presentation of his work in 1974.  Throughout the exhibition, works are accompanied by rarely seen archival materials from Warhol’s “time capsules.” Beginning in 1974, Warhol collected papers, photographs, correspondence, business records, and other objects in cardboard boxes, amassing over six hundred boxes by his death. Highlights relating to the exhibition include a solicitation from President-Elect Nixon for recommendations for his administration, an invitation to Nixon’s inauguration, a signed letter from Senator Robert Kennedy expressing his thanks for Warhol’s support, and a handwritten note from First Lady Nancy Reagan. These materials yield new insights into Warhol’s connection to the political celebrities he portrayed and how those relationships extended beyond his portraits of them. Andy Warhol was born Andrew Warhola in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1928. He studied at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh from 1945 to 1949, before moving to New York and working as a commercial artist and illustrator. In the 1960s, he rose to fame as a central figure in the Pop art movement. Responding to images from popular culture—particularly advertisements—Warhol began creating works that first shocked audiences by their similarity to commercial images. He accented this comparison by adopting technical processes used by professional printers. He further distanced himself from the physical production of the work by employing the help of studio assistants at his New York City loft called The Factory. His most famous works include series of images of Marilyn Monroe, Campbell’s soup cans, and Coca-Cola bottles. The Andy Warhol Museum was founded in Pittsburgh and now houses an extensive collection of his works and archives. Click on logo below to add this article to your favorite Social Website ~ |
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