Andy Warhol Prints
Vernissage: Thursday, 8 May 2008, 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Exhibition: 8 - 29 May 2008
Venue: Schoeni Branch Gallery, 27 Hollywood Road, Hong Kong
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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