Andy Warhol

 

Andy Warhol, at the MAC in Belfast.

Warhol on war, death and religion

During the 1980's three themes emerge in Warhol's work: war, death and religion. In this gallery colour is almost completely absent. Exhibited here are mainly black and white canvases from his 'Arts and Illustrations' series. Based on magazine cuttings and fliers these crudely hand drawn, traced images recall Warhol's early commercial work though their rudimentary style is much less refined.

Repent and Sin No More, 1985-86 (acrylic paint and silkscreen on canvas)

Hamburger, 1985-86, (acrylic paint and silkscreen ink on canvas)

Paratropper Boots, 1985-86, (acrylic paint and silkscreen on canvas)

Dollar Sign, 1981, (acrylic paint and silkscreen ink on canvas)

Warhol openly acknowledged that he loved money. He also loved drawing and painting it.

Are You Different? 1985-86 (acrylic paint and silkscreen on canvas)

The Mark of the Beast, 1985-86 (acrylic paint and silkscreen on canvas)

Camouflage, 1986 (acrylic paint and silkscreen on canvas)

quite psychedelic close up, isn't it?



Warhol, Celebrity, Marketing and Himself

In this gallery was full of advertisements and posters for exhibitions and films.

'Art is what you can get away with'.

Silver Clouds, 1966

(Helium-filled metallized plastic film)

'I thought that the way to finish off painting for me would be to have a painting that floats, so I invented the silver floating rectangles that you fill up with helium and let out of your windows'.

Silver Cloud is a result of a collaboration between Warhol and engineer Billy Kluver. First exhibited in 1966 at the Leo Castelli gallery.




Cow Wallpaper

One of a series of wallpaper designs he created from the 1960s to the 1980s. When the dealer Ivan Karp commented that no-one painted pastoral scenes anymore, Warhol found a picture of a cow in an old agricultural magazine and reproduced it as a gaudy wallpaper pattern. It was first used to cover a room at the Leo Castelli gallery in New York in 1966. The walk-in printed environment subverted expectations of what an artwork could be, while the choice of decorative wallpaper provocatively confronted art connoisseurs with a mass-produced popular medium that they generally dismissed as kitsch.

Within this room are also a series of self-portraits.

Self-Portrait Strangulation, 1978, (acrylic paint and silkscreen paint on canvas).