For many, the name Andy Warhol instantly brings to mind New York, Marilyn Monroe and Campbell’s soup cans. Those are some of the most iconic images associated with the prolific artist, but as the recently opened exhibit at the Corcoran gallery demonstrates, his work spanned a much wider range of ideas and emotions.
The exhibit is not large, but is systematically divided and well-organized, making it a perfect starting point for those just beginning to discover Warhol. Even long-time devotees should find this exposition fascinating, as it features over 150 drawings, sculptures, photographs and films from the Warhol Museum’s permanent collection in his hometown of Pittsburgh. The pieces are neatly organized into themes such as “Mao,” “Abstraction” and “Guns, Knives, Crosses and Dollar Signs,” to name just a few.
Warhol’s cheerful “Early Ads,” start off, illustrating the everyday advertisements of Campbell’s soup and Brillo cleaning products of the late 1960s, which prompted debate about the merging of high art and pop art. The range in the diverse spectrum of his work is evident in the darker images of “Death and Disaster.” This body of work is considered to be one of Warhol’s most challenging, featuring grim images of electric chair chambers at the notorious Sing Sing prison in Ossining, New York and poignant photographs of Jacqueline Kennedy at the time of her husband’s assassination. The images provide a drastic contrast to the bright, colorful portraits of Monroe, placed in the adjacent room.
What makes the exhibit most exciting is the variety of media presented in the collection. Aside from the celebrity and soup can prints, many delicate pencil and ink drawings, and the brushwork in the paintings of Mao Tse-Tung, allow the viewer to appreciate Warhol’s skill as a traditional artist. Another must-see part of the exhibit is Warhol’s renowned portrait films, which transformed the notion of film as art. The extraordinary black-and-white films, known as Screen Tests, feature a myriad of personalities, well-known and nameless alike, projected at one third of the normal speed. The slow motion of the films allows the viewer to get closer to the character, while the use of film as the artistic medium once again blurs the boundaries between fine art and popular culture.
This retrospective gives art lovers a fantastic opportunity to discover more of Warhol’s work, as well as to enjoy his celebrated and much-loved images. It is the lesser-known pieces, though, which present Warhol’s unique and complex personality as an artist and innovator, that make this exhibit truly valuable.
Warhol Legacy at the Corcoran Gallery of Art-Selections from the Andy Warhol Museum will run from September 24, 2005 until February 20, 2006.
