Andy Warhol Museum

Having never visited this museum before, or seeing Warhol's authentic work, I was taken aback by his pieces. I've studied Warhol in my Art History Class last year and just recently in Comtemporary Art, so I had some background knowledge on him and have seen many of his works. Seeing them in person was much more powerful and not generic, which I thought they sometimes appeared when displayed over and over again on paper, in pictures, on clothes, and accesories.

5 Pieces that caught my attention:

1) Silver Clouds- This piece was an installation of metallic silver helium filled balloons. The balloons are rectangular in shape with ends curving in because of the pressure of the hellium. Free moving, the balloons float in the room and move about with the air currents that enter the room. The piece is lively and active and has little concern for the space being used. The balloons are able to move about with little interference besides contact between themselves.

2) Self Portrait- Warhol made a series of self portraits in 1986 using the same picture of himself. He differentiated the prints by changing colors and adding designs giving the self portrait an unnatural feel. His face is centrally located with his hair theatrically sticking up on the left side. Not smiling, Warhol is intently staring at the viewer wide eyed. These prints were made near the end of his life and give an unmasked view of Warhol without his crowd of followers or dark sunglasses making him appear mystical.

3) Box Installation- This installation was comprised of packaging boxes for Campbells Tomato Juice and Heinz Ketchup. The boxes are wooden and have silkscreen covering them. They are replications of the original boxes that were used for shipping and packaging. This piece caught my attention because Warhol was not creating someting original, but rather making a duplication of something that already existed. His choice of subject conveys his idea of consumerism and mass production by machines, only in this case Warhol was the machine.

4) Flowers- Scattered throughout the museum were Warhol's Flowers. Each piece consisted of four hibiscus flowers of varying size. The flowers appeared to be stem less and placed onto a field of grass. The jagged defined lines of the grass gave it a very cartoonish exaggerated look. The flowers are basically a solid color without detail or any attention towards distinct individual petals. These flowers can now be seen displayed on peoples accessories such as bags and shirts and were quite familiar when I viewed them in the museum having seen their duplicates before.

5) Elvis- Displayed eleven times on a huge wall are a series of Elvis duplicated elvis images screenprinted onto a canvas. Using shades of grey, black, and white Elvis is displayed with a western aura of legs spread, double holstered belt, and gun in his right hand ready to shoot. He is not staring at the viewer but rather past at the person in which he is in confrontation with. Similar to the Marilyn silkscreens, Elvis is a fallen legend whose fame made him a pop icon and a product of society.