ARTS & CULTURE
Delve Into the Western Works of Pop Art Icon Andy Warhol PHOTOS/MARCIA BIGGS
Warhol gave classic American icons a place in history, such as Howdy Doody, The Wicked Witch from “The Wizard of Oz” and Uncle Sam.
BY MARCIA BIGGS The James Museum of Western and Wildlife Art can notch another blockbuster exhibit to its belt with Warhol’s West, a mighty powerful collection of works that lassos you in from the moment you enter the gallery. Warhol’s signature celebrity portraits in vivid colors (Marylyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Liza Minelli, John Lennon, to name a few) are a trademark of the eccentric New York artist who died in 1987 at age 58, and in this exhibition we learn of the artist’s attraction to the great “celebrities” of the American West.
the same image. He had a lifelong fascination with Hollywood and celebrities, creating some of the most recognizable images ever produced.
Andy Warhol was an undisputable legend in 20th Century art, a founding member of the pop art movement, often challenging the very definition of art. A printmaker, painter, and filmmaker, his career began in the 1950s as a commercial illustrator, producing advertising and window displays for New York retailers. Warhol began using advertisements and comic strips in his paintings, such as Mickey Mouse, Campbell’s soup cans and Brillo boxes, utilizing bright colors, stencils and repeating
While Warhol’s attraction to American celebrities is well documented, even his ardent fans may not know that he had a lifelong passion for the American West. His penchant for wearing cowboy hats and boots and collecting Western art is well documented. In Warhol’s West, we get an in-depth look at his work in this genre. Topics stretch from early works that show Warhol’s graphic design skills in movie posters and advertising in the 1950s and 1960s, to classic images of the Myths series –
Sometimes serious, sometimes whimsical, Warhol’s West is filled with surprises. It’s a pleasure that most of the paintings are 3 feet by 3 feet, allowing the viewer a clear look into the dimensional screenprints. The entire gallery experience is eye candy, with works mounted on ice cream color walls.
In Sitting Bull (1986), Warhol used a photograph from 1881 for inspiration. The series details the steps in his screenprint process.
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StPeteLifeMag.com
November/December 2021