POPular Fabrication

by Razaq Kadri

Silver Clouds (1964), an interactive work consisting of helium-filled silver balloons, is the first work encountered in Warhol: Fabricated. Once you escape these you cannot help but notice Red Lenin (1987). Is the red just another use of a primary color by Warhol, or is it an allusion to the Soviet Red Army? Would it have been fitting to have Lenin screen printed on a different color like yellow, or pink? Another work worth seeing is Mick Jagger (1975). An interesting deviation from the use of bright colors on celebrities, here there are greens, slivers, and blacks. Curiously, there is a thick stroke of black across Jagger's face, over his eyes. Edie Sedgwick (1965) and Lou Reed (1966) are screen tests, videos of Warhol’s original films on a continuous loop. The subjects look into the camera as though waiting to have their picture taken. One can imagine what was going through their heads while the camera was rolling.