Andy Warhol Prints
Schoeni Art Gallery is proud to present
their first Warhol show on May 9th, 2008 showcasing part of the
Saunderson Private Collection of Andy Warhol limited edition prints. This
grouping showcases some of Warhol’s most rare and significant prints found in
the world. Warhol’s decision to select images from popular culture and combine
them with the printing processes of the commercial world was an essential
element of his Pop statement.
Warhol dissected the very mechanics of
image production and production through this unexpected commonplace vehicle,
discovered a way to be original by applying to the canvas the multiplicity and
assembly-line manufactured normally associated with photography and commercial
printing, Warhol also sparked a critical re-evaluation of the unique properties
one had come to expect from a work of art. Warhol’s experiments with the medium
of silk screening revealed both the aesthetic and mass cultural associations of
the term "media" and confused the traditional boundaries separating
painting, drawing and prints. He used prints as other artists might use drawing
- as a way to visualise ideas - and printmaking became a mechanical extension
of his hand, whilst still downplaying the expressive force of the artist. Warhol was also a maverick in
his approach to photography, a relatively new medium at the time, affected
radical change in the art community, primarily because it formed a new visual
language that emerged from a single click of a button, revealing an entirely
different world that was malleable, even in its ability to exactly capture a single
moment in still. Beyond this, it was an entirely new language with no
historical baggage, and Warhol was able to fully explore new and dynamic ways
of working with this medium.
Warhol successfully re-defined art
conceptually, as well as aesthetically, by exploring the chasm between the role
of the artist and the myth of the creator. The 1960s was an era that underscored the importance of a new,
progressive source of inspiration unfettered by historical nuances that
breached the simplicity of efficiency. Warhol created in an age fettered with
political and social upheaval. By carefully selecting mass-produced objects to
include in his imagery, Warhol forged a commentary on the nature of the
replication of these objects, in mass-production, and also through photography;
different context, similar process. Warhol sought to liberate art from
pre-conceived notions of artistic value, and this was the motivation behind
these pieces that he enthralled in, not the end result. Pun? Perhaps. Riddle?
Most Definitely.
Although Warhol produced a large number of
limited edition prints, they are now highly sought after worldwide; Schoeni is
delighted to have the chance to exhibit them in Hong Kong. Andy Warhol’s use of
iconic images such as the famous Mao print and other key prints of famous
figureheads along with the famous Ad series from 1985 will be part of the
exhibit.
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