Andy Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. Opens At The Met…

“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 45 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. There were large and small pieces, video and wallpapered environments, and I spent the next two hours absorbed in a fantastic 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 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 depth to the show, highlighting his influence on many contemporary artists as well as his enduring legacy.

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 and 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 Polke1964, and Brillo Soap Pads Box, 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 Hirst1997-98

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… Phil, 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.

“Exposure and attention make a work famous – the more you talk about it, the more attention it gets, the more validity it achieves.” Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. Opens At The Met… Self Portrait Camouflage, Andy Warhol 1986, and Torso from Behind, Andy Warhol 1977

Andy Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. Opens At The Met… John Martin, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, NY, Richard Avedon 1975 and Lady Warhol, Christopher Makos 1981

Andy Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. Opens At The Met… Self Portrait, Robert Mapplethorpe 1980

Andy Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. Opens At The Met… Queer, Gilbert & George 1977 and Kissers, John Currin 2006

Queer Studies: Shifting Identities: “outlines Warhol’s importance as an artist who broke new ground in representing issues of sexuality and gender in the post-war period…” Via The Met. It includes works by others who added new ways of viewing queer identity. Some Relevant Artists in this section: Richard Avedon, Peter Hujar, Christopher Makos, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Catherine Opie, Gilbert & George and John Currin.

“When you work with people who misunderstand you, instead of getting transmissions, you get transmutations, and that’s much more interesting in the long run.” Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. Opens At The Met… Baseball, Andy Warhol 1962

Andy Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. Opens At The Met… Black Star Press: Black Star, Black Press, Star, Kelley Walker 2004

Andy Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. Opens At The Met… Oxidation Painting, Andy Warhol, 1978

Andy Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. Opens At The Met… Drink Canada Dry, Richard Prince 1989

Andy Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. Opens At The Met… Marilyn Monroe’s Lips, Andy Warhol 1962

Andy Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. Opens At The Met… Red Morning Drowned, Gilbert & George 1977 and Nine Jackies (background) Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. Opens At The Met… Triple Silver Disaster, Andy Warhol 1963

Andy Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. Opens At The Met… A Two Dimensional Surface, John Baldessari 1967

Consuming Images: Appropriation, Abstraction, and Seriality: “explores Warhol’s formal strategies and groundbreaking use of pre-existing photographic sources, often endlessly repeated in grid patterns; his appropriation of art history; and his interest in abstraction…” Via The Met. Some Relevant Artists in this section: Richard Prince, Cindy Sherman, Kelley Walker, John Baldessari, Gilbert & George, and Christopher Wool.

“Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art.” Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. Opens At The Met… Dollar Signs, Andy Warhol 1981 and Flowers, Andy Warhol 1964

Andy Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. Opens At The Met… Kaikai Kiki, Takashi Murakami 2001

Andy Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. Opens At The Met… Wall Relief with Bird, Jeff Koons 1991

Andy Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. Opens At The Met… Super Mario Clouds, Cory Archangel 2003

Andy Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. Opens At The Met… Silver Clouds and Red Cows, Andy Warhol 1966

No Boundaries: Business, Collaboration, and Spectacle: “the final section of the exhibition—examines Warhol’s interest in artistic partnership through filmmaking, magazine publishing, music, and design….his fascination with creating environments that envelop the viewer entirely…” Via The Met. Some Relevant Artists in this section: Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami, Polly Apfelbaum and Cory Arcangel.

Andy Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years. Opens At The Met… 50th Anniversary Target Store Soup-cans honoring Andy Warhol

Additionally, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the contributions of this brilliant art icon, Target will market colorful cans of Campbell’s soup for 75c. If you visit New York City this fall, pay a visit to The Met and catch the exhibition. Stay Inspired! What are your thoughts? Are you familiar with Andy Warhol’s work? Would you recommend others that are comparable or uniquely different? Do you regularly explore the works of new artists and/or the power of creative action in your life? Do share! Thank you.

*Please bear with me as I continue to catch up on your blogs and commenting… Thank you all for your patience!

Positive Motivation Tip: Art in all its forms is empowering and enlightening. It helps us preserve history while creating beauty. Seek your medium and create!

PHOTO CREDITS/ATTRIBUTIONS: All Photos from my personal collection. Except Target Campbell Soup cans via khaleejtimes.com

Until Next Time…
Ask. Believe. Receive. ©
Elizabeth Obih-Frank
Mirth and Motivation
Positive Kismet