On November 12, 2018, New York’s Whitney Museum opened the encyclopedic exhibition entitled “Andy Warhol—From A to B and Back Again”. Showcasing more than 350 works of art, many assembled together for the first time, this exhibition is the first Warhol retrospective organized by a U.S. institution since 1989. It reconsiders the work of one of the most inventive, influential, and important American artists
Few American artists are as ever-present and instantly recognizable as Andy Warhol (1928–1987). Through his carefully cultivated persona and willingness to experiment with non-traditional art-making techniques, Warhol understood the growing power of images in contemporary life and helped to expand the role of the artist in society.
Built on new materials, research and scholarship that has emerged since the artist’s death in 1987, “Andy Warhol—From A to B and Back Again” reveals new complexities about the Warhol we think we know, and introduces a Warhol for the 21st century. With more than 350 works of art, many assembled together for the first time, display on three floors, this is the largest monographic exhibition to date at the Whitney’s new location. The exhibition’s title refers to the subtitle of the loosely formed autobiography Warhol published in 1977: The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B and Back Again).
The exhibition positions Warhol’s career as a continuum, demonstrating that he didn’t slow down after surviving the assassination attempt that nearly took his life in 1968, but entered into a period of intense experimentation.
According to the curator, “The show illuminates the breadth, depth, and interconnectedness of the artist’s production: from his beginnings as a commercial illustrator in the 1950s, to his iconic Pop masterpieces of the early 1960s, to the experimental work in film and other mediums from the 1960s and 70s, to his innovative use of readymade abstraction and the painterly sublime in the 1980s. His repetitions, distortions, camouflaging, incongruous color, and recycling of his own imagery challenge our faith in images and the value of cultural icons, anticipating the profound effects and issues of the current digital age.”
The exhibition is divided into 13 sections that cover not only the most well-known and celebrated works by Warhol but also early works as an illustrator, his filmmaking experiments, collaborations with other artists, archives regarding installations and performances.
A section is dedicated to Time Capsule, a project conceived in 1974 when Warhol relocated his studio from 33 Union Square West to 860 Broadway. He and his employees had randomly placed the entire contents of the studio—including some artworks—in uniform cardboard boxes and after the move Warhol decided to leave the boxes intact, creating his own idiosyncratically organized personal archive. He continued to compile Time Capsules for the remainder of his career, hoping to one day exhibit, and perhaps even sell, the sealed boxes as conceptual sculptures.
Among the most celebrated works on display, the exhibition displays pieces from the Silver screens, Death and disasters, Flowers, and Most wanted man series. Many portraits are also on displayed, including Mao serigraphs, the Ladies and Gentlemen series and polaroid’s portrait.
The exhibition is organized by Donna De Salvo, Deputy Director for International Initiatives and Senior Curator, with Christie Mitchell, senior curatorial assistant, and Mark Loiacono, curatorial research associate.
“Andy Warhol – From A to B and Back Again” through March 31 at the Whitney Museum of American Art, 99 Gansevoort Street, Manhattan. The exhibition travels to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (May 18-September 2, 2019) and the Art Institute of Chicago (October 20 2019 -January 26, 2020).
Learn more:
> Whitney Museum of American art
> Andy Warhol’s artist profile
