Andy Warhol, Campbell’s Soup Cans, 1962, each canvas 20” x 16”, Museum of Modern Art, New York, Photo by Gwenaël Piser via Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution License.

Make the Time: In Warhol’s Wake

Next week on September 18th, an exhibition entitled, “Regarding Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years” will open at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.  The exhibition explores Andy Warhol’s influence on contemporary art with many works by Warhol himself and those whose work he impacted, including Cindy Sherman, Jeff Koons, Gerhard Richter, and Ai Weiwei.

Undeniably, Warhol had an enormous influence on future artists, and the curators of this exhibition thoughtfully organized the artwork into a few categories that clearly illustrate Warhol’s greatest impact.  The exhibition has sections that focus upon imagery from everyday life, fame and issues of sexuality and gender, the use and reuse of pre-existing sources, and work in other media.

Andy Warhol, detail of Campbell Soup Cans, 1962, each canvas 20” x 16”, Museum of Modern Art, New York, Photo by profzucker via Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution License.

Many of these ideas are exemplified in Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans.  The subject couldn’t be more banal, yet Campbell’s soup was something of a celebrity in the world of modern advertising.  The high contrast in the paintings reflect commercial aesthetics and the effects of repetitive reproductions on photocopying machinery.  Warhol arranged the thirty-two canvases in a series upon the wall, mimicking commercial production and display, making the art itself a mass-produced commodity.enormous influence on future artists, and the curators of this exhibition thoughtfully organized the artwork into a few categories that clearly illustrate Warhol’s greatest impact.  The exhibition has sections that focus upon imagery from everyday life, fame and issues of sexuality and gender, the use and reuse of pre-existing sources, and work in other media.

 

Detail Photo:  Andy Warhol, detail of Campbell Soup Cans, 1962, each canvas 20” x 16”, Museum of Modern Art, New York, Photo by profzucker via Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution License.

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