Warhol & Friends Exhibition 4-31 October 2024 At Creative Arts Napier Incorporated - Nga Ringatoi Auaha O Ahuriri

Pop Art is one of the most innovative and creative art movements of the modern era, with Andy Warhol and other artists of the 1960’s, such as Roy Lichtenstein, James Rosenquist, Claes Oldenburg and Jim Dine continuing to attract attention and interest over 60 years later.

Andy Warhol was uniquely positioned to lead the movement, with a finger on the pulse of popular culture, especially visual imagery, that was unparalleled. Using his skills as a commercial artist combined with new technologies, especially innovations in photography, along with his intimate connection to popular culture and mass consumerism, Warhol stayed at the cutting edge of image creation for almost three decades before his untimely early death in 1987.

For the entire month of October (4th-31st), Creative Arts Napier will host a comprehensive exhibition of Pop Art, with an in-depth focus on Andy Warhol, in particular, his reinvigoration of the fine art portrait. Curated with important early works during his time as a commercial artist in the 1950’s, visitors to the exhibition will not only appreciate Warhol’s superior skill as a draftsmen but also his early experimentation with new developments in photography, that directly influenced his art, especially his famous portraits.

The exhibition presents rarely seen but significant examples of Warhol’s commissioned graphic commercial projects that helped pave the way for his iconic treatment of the Campbells Soup Can and Marilyn Monroe in 1962 and his celebrity portraits starting in 1970.

For instance, magazine front covers (such as, Jane Fonda and Michael Jackson on Time Magazine), advertisements (including his Life Magazine Golden Shoe 1962 exhibition ad), poster commissions (including the Beatles poster of 1980, signed by Warhol) and record cover commissions (such as, Aretha Franklin, Dianna Ross, Liza Minelli, the Rolling Stones, Debbie Harry and others), all demonstrate the application of Warhol’s skill and innovations as a fine artist developed over decades, making him the most sought after artist in the commercial world in modern memory.

Not only is the exhibition curated to help the viewer take a deep dive into the how and why of Warhol’s fine art career, but collectors will have the opportunity to acquire all rare graphic works on display dating as early as 1955 to his death in 1987. Framed high quality reproductions of key works printed on Arches paper will also be available. Including, rare framed prints of the iconic 1962 Orange Marilyn (80cm by 80cm) commissioned by the Andy Warhol Foundation, made in Germany in 1998.

The exhibition also includes a unique “Andy Warhol Experience” with the opportunity to physically handle and look through the same ‘Big Shot’ Polaroid Camera, that Warhol used to take images of his famous celebrities and to create your own instant photographic serial portrait images. A mimesis of the same process that Warhol undertook to create his unique portraits starting in the 1970’s. The “Experience” also includes a 3-dimensional exploration of Warhol’s famous art studio called “The Factory” with the assistance of 3-D glasses (a novel visual phenomenon that Warhol intended as a sensory experience while creating his famous Statue of Liberty work in 1962). Visitors will feel in 3 dimensions what it was like to be alone with Warhol in his studio, or being part of the crowd at a busy Warhol studio exhibition, to observing Warhol create one of his own short films, and more.

While a major focus is on Andy Warhol, the exhibition also addresses selected works from his contemporaries, including Roy Lichtenstein, James Rosenquist, Claes Oldenburg, Jim Dine and Keith Haring. Including iconic popular culture images, such as, fiction comic book characters, advertising billboards and even Mickey Mouse, making their own unique contribution to Pop Art that continues to inspire us today. Works include original limited-edition lithographs and posters (several signed by James Rosenquist and Claes Oldenburgh) and high-quality framed reproductions on Arches paper, available for acquisition only at the exhibition.

Finally, the exhibition showcases lithographs from the iconic “One Cent Life” portfolio of 1964 (compiled and edited by Wallace Ting and Sam Francis) including Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe, Lichtenstein’s popular cartoon aesthetic, Rosenquist’s consumer goods imagery and works from important contemporaries including Jim Dine, Kimber Smith, Wallace Ting and Alan Kaprow (the leader of the significant “Happenings” of the early 1960’s). Curated from a fully intact copy of the portfolio, it is an opportunity rarely afforded the viewing public. Portfolio lithographs by Rosenquist, Dine, Kaprow and Smith, are available to collectors attending the exhibition.

A comprehensive Catalogue, written, designed and illustrated by the curator and qualified modern art historians, will also be available to help the viewer make sense of the works on display and will come with a pair of 3-D glasses as part of the “Andy Warhol Experience.”

Several floor talks in the Main Gallery by the exhibition curator and expert printmakers, along with print workshops (including workshops for children) will accompany the exhibition throughout its month-long tenure. Of note, on the 18th of October, a special string quartet performance by members of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra will take place in the Main Gallery surrounded by Warhol’s creations. This is a ticketed event with limited seating.

The official exhibition Opening on Friday 4th of October.

We hope this exhibition will have something of interest for everyone. From the younger generation and those less familiar with Pop Art, to collectors and art lovers, who simply want to learn more, see more and experience for themselves the phenomenon that is “Andy Warhol and Friends.”

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