“They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.” Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. Opens At The Met… Self-Portrait, Andy Warhol, 1967
Yesterday, I attended a preview of the upcoming Andy Warhol retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum in Manhattan; Regarding Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. It is the 50th anniversary of Warhol’s first solo exhibition. I went a bit late in the day, parked my car (the gods of street parking were generous and found me a spot close to the museum on 5th avenue), and headed for the museum entrance. Since this was the first day of a five day preview for members, I was concerned that the crowds would make it difficult to enjoy the collection. I was nicely surprised as the crowds must have come earlier in the day.
Although there were others with me in the Tisch Galleries on the 2nd floor, there was plenty of elbow room and I moved with ease through the five sections and snapped a few photos to share with you. The exhibition showcased 50 works by Warhol and 100 from about 60 other artists and presented what was, as per the invitation: “prime examples of Warhol’s paintings, sculpture, and films with those by other artists who in key ways reinterpret, respond, or react to his ground breaking work. What emerges is a fascinating dialogue between works of art and artists across generations.” The selections were far-ranging and engaging. Maybe too far-ranging for some critics. There were large and small pieces, video selections and wallpapered environments, and I spent the next two hours absorbed in a fantastic, somewhat chaotic Warholian world.
“Pop art is for everyone.” Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. Opens At The Met… Green Coca-Cola Bottles, and Big Campbell’s Soup-can 19c, Andy Warhol, 1962
Until his death in 1987, Andy Warhol was the reigning king of Pop Art culture and a huge iconic influence on the innovative approach to creative uses of multimedia in the art world. The exhibition is divided into five sections to highlight what guest curator, Mark Rosenthal, and his team categorized as representing the broad phenomenon of the “Warhol effect.” The five thematic sections are: “Daily News: From Banality to Disaster,” “Portraiture: Celebrity and Power,” “Queer Studies: Shifting Identities,” “Consuming Images: Appropriation, Abstraction, and Seriality,” and “No Boundaries: Business, Collaboration, and Spectacle.” Many of Warhol’s significant/signature works are included and innovative, even humorous pieces by other artists add a wonderful, eclectic depth to the show; highlighting his influence on many contemporary artists as well as his enduring legacy.
Andy Warhol Exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York: The Artist Who Created ‘Pop Art’
In the photos included in this post, I’ve separated them into the groupings created by the curators. The titles are pretty self explanatory; however, I’ve added some valuable information (in italics) from the The Met Museum’s page on the exhibition. The exhibition will open to the general public on Tuesday, September 18 through December 31, 2012. Museum hours are: Tuesday–Thursday: 9:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday: 9:30 a.m.–9:00 p.m., and Sunday: 9:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m. The museum is closed on Mondays. For more information visit: Regarding Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. I loved the exhibit perhaps because I didn’t go with preconceived ideas of what it should or should not include… As Warhol once said, “Art is anything you can get away with.” I’ll encourage everyone to go see it. Enjoy the show!
“I wanted to paint nothing. I was looking for something that was the essence of nothing, and the soup can was it.” Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. Opens At The Met… Ambulance Disaster, Andy Warhol, 1963-64
Andy Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. Opens At The Met… Icebox, Andy Warhol, 1961, Plastik Wannen, Sigmar Polke, 1964, and Brillo Soap Pad Boxes, Andy Warhol, 1964
Andy Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. Opens At The Met… Ushering in Banality, Jeff Koons,1988
Andy Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. Opens At The Met… Helmsboro Country, Hans Haacke, 1990
Andy Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. Opens At The Met… Eight over Eight, Damien Hirst, 1997-98
Andy Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. Opens At The Met… Hanging Man Sleeping Man, Robert Gober, 1989
Andy Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. Opens At The Met… Hochsitz mit Gansen, (Watchtower with geese), Sigmar Polke, 1987-88
Andy Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. Opens At The Met… Untitled Head, Jean-Michel Basquiat, 1981
Daily News: From Banality to Disaster: “explores Warhol’s engagement with the imagery of everyday life, his interest in items of consumerist American culture in the 1960s, and his keen attention to advertising, tabloids, and magazines. Also includes works by artists “who share Warhol’s fascination with disaster or death.” Via The Met. Some Relevant Artists in this section: Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, Ai Wei Wei, Sigmar Polke, Hans Haacke, Tom Sachs, Robert Gober, and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
“If you want to know all about Andy Warhol, just look at the surface of my paintings and films and me, and there I am. There’s nothing behind it.” Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. Opens At The Met… Turquoise Marilyn, Andy Warhol, 1964
Andy Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. Opens At The Met… Nine Jackies, Andy Warhol, 1964
Andy Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. Opens At The Met… Michael Jackson and Bubbles, Jeff Koons, 1988, and Liza Minnelli (background), Francesco Vezzoli, 1999
Andy Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. Opens At The Met…Barbara Walters, Julian Schnabel, 1990
Andy Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. Opens At The Met… Malcolm X, (Small version 1) #1, Glenn Ligon, 2001
Andy Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. Opens At The Met… Philip Glass, Chuck Close, 1969
Portraiture: Celebrity and Power: “looks at Warhol’s engagement with portraiture to illuminate contemporary artists’ continuing interest in the issues of fame or infamy in the age of the tabloid.” Via The Met. Some Relevant Artists in this section: Elizabeth Peyton, Karen Kilimnik, Cindy Sherman, Francesco Vezzoli, Jeff Koons, Glenn Ligon, Robert Mapplethorpe, Julian Schnabel, Maurizio Cattelan, Alex Katz and Chuck Close.
