by Caroline T.
Whether a viewer is new to Andy Warhol's work or not, one can experience a good variety of his work at the Warhol: Fabricated exhibition. As one enters the gallery s/he is greeted right away with a wall full of bright pink cows. There is a carnival feel to this exhibition and it draws one in to want to see more. The first gallery is a room full of large rectangular, floating mylar balloons. One may ask, “This is an art show, right? So what are they doing here?" If the fans are turned on, one can interact with Warhol's Silver Clouds. The clouds float and can be bounced about like beach balls. This is a delight to both young and old.
Although Warhol is usually noted for his soup can and Brillo box works, a large body of his oeuvre was portraiture. The fun technicolors that greet the viewer in the foyer abound in the next room with famous and infamous on display in large silk screen prints. There is a very green Richard Nixon hung on a wall papered with the repeating pattern of the image of Mao Zedong in purple. There is also a western series and it is probably a good bet that Annie Oakley and Sitting Bull have never been seen in these colors before. But as psychedelic as the colors may be there is a sophistication to the artworks because Warhol presents the images in a simple way. So the viewer sees bright color with simple lines, therefore the image is intriguing without being overwhelming.
Moving on into the next gallery the viewer gets a taste of his Death and Destruction series. The race riots in Montgomery and the electric chair lose some of their shock value due to his placing these images in bright colors. That was intention and until it is viewed it is hard to imagine that these images could lose their edge but they do when placed within hot pink or mustard yellow.
Finally there is relief from the bright color with a wall full of small black and white photos. Some of the people featured are famous but many are not. In fact there are many that do not feature faces at all just body parts. This could be a tricky area to navigate depending on the audience since there are nudes mixed in. Nudes in art are usually a given but that is because they are usually made to be beautiful. These are not but they are so simple that they are not really lurid either. They are just awkward.
One of the more interesting things Warhol did was to use film as a means to create a portrait. Edie Sedgwick and Lou Reed video portraits. Unless the explanation is read one stands viewing these videos waiting for the people to do something instead of just staring at the camera. When it is understood we are looking at them as a portrait it makes these pieces all the more creative.
Whether a viewer is new to Andy Warhol's work or not, one can experience a good variety of his work at the Warhol: Fabricated exhibition. As one enters the gallery s/he is greeted right away with a wall full of bright pink cows. There is a carnival feel to this exhibition and it draws one in to want to see more. The first gallery is a room full of large rectangular, floating mylar balloons. One may ask, “This is an art show, right? So what are they doing here?" If the fans are turned on, one can interact with Warhol's Silver Clouds. The clouds float and can be bounced about like beach balls. This is a delight to both young and old.
Although Warhol is usually noted for his soup can and Brillo box works, a large body of his oeuvre was portraiture. The fun technicolors that greet the viewer in the foyer abound in the next room with famous and infamous on display in large silk screen prints. There is a very green Richard Nixon hung on a wall papered with the repeating pattern of the image of Mao Zedong in purple. There is also a western series and it is probably a good bet that Annie Oakley and Sitting Bull have never been seen in these colors before. But as psychedelic as the colors may be there is a sophistication to the artworks because Warhol presents the images in a simple way. So the viewer sees bright color with simple lines, therefore the image is intriguing without being overwhelming.
Moving on into the next gallery the viewer gets a taste of his Death and Destruction series. The race riots in Montgomery and the electric chair lose some of their shock value due to his placing these images in bright colors. That was intention and until it is viewed it is hard to imagine that these images could lose their edge but they do when placed within hot pink or mustard yellow.
Finally there is relief from the bright color with a wall full of small black and white photos. Some of the people featured are famous but many are not. In fact there are many that do not feature faces at all just body parts. This could be a tricky area to navigate depending on the audience since there are nudes mixed in. Nudes in art are usually a given but that is because they are usually made to be beautiful. These are not but they are so simple that they are not really lurid either. They are just awkward.
One of the more interesting things Warhol did was to use film as a means to create a portrait. Edie Sedgwick and Lou Reed video portraits. Unless the explanation is read one stands viewing these videos waiting for the people to do something instead of just staring at the camera. When it is understood we are looking at them as a portrait it makes these pieces all the more creative.
No comments:
Post a Comment