Warhol by Warhol
Self-Portrait, 1986
by Andy Warhol
Acrylic paint and screenprint on canvas
Mortal Coil
As the 1980s progressed, Warhol’s work featured more political and religious imagery. Although it wasn’t deliberate, it reflected some of the major concerns of the time, including the Cold War between the US and the USSR and the escalating AIDS epidemic.
Warhol had always used his own image in his art. In the 1980s, he created what came to be known as his ‘fright wig’ self-portraits for an exhibition in London. In earlier works, his wig was an integrated part of his appearance. In these pictures, his wig takes on the status of art. In contrast to his early self-portraits where he appeared aloof, in these works his gaunt face and intense expression convey the pain that he routinely suffered from since the shooting.
[Tate Modern]
Andy Warhol
(March – November 2020)
A new look at the extraordinary life and work of the pop art superstar
Andy Warhol was the son of immigrants who became an American icon. A shy gay man who became the hub of New York’s social scene. An artist who embraced consumerism, celebrity and the counter culture – and changed modern art in the process.
He was born in 1928 as Andrew Warhola to working-class parents from present day Slovakia. In 1949 he moved from Pittsburgh to New York. Initially working as a commercial illustrator, his skill at transforming the imagery of American culture soon found its realisation in his ground-breaking pop art.
This major retrospective is the first Warhol exhibition at Tate Modern for almost 20 years. As well as his iconic pop images of Marilyn Monroe, Coca-Cola and Campbell’s soup cans, it includes works never seen before in the UK. Twenty-five works from his Ladies and Gentlemen series – portraits of black and Latinx drag queens and trans women – are shown for the first time in 30 years.
Popularly radical and radically popular, Warhol was an artist who reimagined what art could be in an age of immense social, political and technological change.
[Tate Modern]
Warhol by Warhol
Self-Portrait, 1986
by Andy Warhol
Acrylic paint and screenprint on canvas
Mortal Coil
As the 1980s progressed, Warhol’s work featured more political and religious imagery. Although it wasn’t deliberate, it reflected some of the major concerns of the time, including the Cold War between the US and the USSR and the escalating AIDS epidemic.
Warhol had always used his own image in his art. In the 1980s, he created what came to be known as his ‘fright wig’ self-portraits for an exhibition in London. In earlier works, his wig was an integrated part of his appearance. In these pictures, his wig takes on the status of art. In contrast to his early self-portraits where he appeared aloof, in these works his gaunt face and intense expression convey the pain that he routinely suffered from since the shooting.
[Tate Modern]
Andy Warhol
(March – November 2020)
A new look at the extraordinary life and work of the pop art superstar
Andy Warhol was the son of immigrants who became an American icon. A shy gay man who became the hub of New York’s social scene. An artist who embraced consumerism, celebrity and the counter culture – and changed modern art in the process.
He was born in 1928 as Andrew Warhola to working-class parents from present day Slovakia. In 1949 he moved from Pittsburgh to New York. Initially working as a commercial illustrator, his skill at transforming the imagery of American culture soon found its realisation in his ground-breaking pop art.
This major retrospective is the first Warhol exhibition at Tate Modern for almost 20 years. As well as his iconic pop images of Marilyn Monroe, Coca-Cola and Campbell’s soup cans, it includes works never seen before in the UK. Twenty-five works from his Ladies and Gentlemen series – portraits of black and Latinx drag queens and trans women – are shown for the first time in 30 years.
Popularly radical and radically popular, Warhol was an artist who reimagined what art could be in an age of immense social, political and technological change.
[Tate Modern]