It has been 29 years since the last Warhol museumretrospective in the US and whether you are a devotee or a detractor the current exhibition at the Whitney, November 12, 2018 to March 31, 2019, is poised to help you think differently about the Warhol you think you know. In the 1960’s one of the main criticisms of Warhol’s workwas its apparent lack of academia – a polite way of saying it was user friendly, decorative and vacuous. There still remains today a consensus among some that the early years, specifically the 1960’s, were his most innovative and that he spent the remainder of his life producing repetitive, uninspired work solely for the market. Donna De Salvo, curator of Andy Warhol – From A to B and Back Again, has set out to counter this interpretation of his oeuvre and has chosen to favour works made after the 1960’s. The show “tracks and reappraises the work of the 1970s and 80s through to Warhol’s death in 1987”, showing his less visible works. It highlights the moment in 1972 when Warhol “renewed his studio practice and became increasingly involved with more conventional mediums like painting, drawing, photography and printmaking.” This exhibition intends to reflect Warhol’s continuing exploration into painting and other media dispelling the argument that he lost his edge after 1960.
Warhol had an extraordinary insight into modern life…his finger on the pulse…he blurred the lines between high and low art and popular taste and high culture by turning art into a mass produced commodity and artist into celebrity. Not unlike what we see today with artists like Jeff Koons and Damian Hirst. His art was accessible- he was accessible and both, on the surface, a quick study. This retrospective will introduce Warhol to a new generation – one all about social media, the Kardashian’s and the selfie. I have no doubt were Warhol still alive today he and Kim would be besties.
Howard495 is an Art Consultancy with a dynamic space specializing in secondary market work with a focus on the global market. Krista Howard, H495’s art consultant and dealer, invites you to come explore the gallery at your leisure and immerse yourself in art work from local, national and international artists.