ANDY WARHOL - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

ANDY WARHOL

Historical and cultural context

Influences

Materials and techniques

Aesthetic qualities

Style

Communicating ideas and meaningsSlide2

Andy Warhol

Silver Liz

[

Ferus

type], 1963Silkscreen ink, acrylic and spraypaint on linen

‘For Warhol, tabloid papers were either vehicles for mass disaster, rendering tragic circumstances almost mundane

(boring)

by their commonplace repetition, or the purveyors

(sellers)

of celebrity and fame to an avid

(greedy)

audience.’ Slide3

In the early 1960s, Liz Taylor had completed a string of successful films that saw her become a heated sex symbol. Often, Taylor’s personal life took over the media as the public passionately followed her early marriages, the tragic death of her third husband and her role as the ‘other woman’ in the break-up of another marriage. When Warhol painted this portrait, Taylor was 31 years old, wed to her fourth husband, and about to become engaged to her fifth. Taylor’s deeply impassioned affair with Richard Burton had been internationally sensationalized through the mass-media, and was so globally notorious as to have been condemned by the Vatican.

Most tellingly for Warhol, the young voluptuous Liz had also had a dramatic brush with early death. While she was in London filming Cleopatra, the actress suffered from a near-fatal bout of pneumonia during which she was actually briefly pronounced dead, finally recovering after an emergency operation.

This combination of glamour and tragedy appealed to Warhol’s fascination with fame and his own deep sense of morbidity.

Elizabeth Taylor combined both aspects of the mass media culture, where intense public scrutiny turned private tragedy into public myth.

An image of a film star, taken from a publicity photograph, becomes iconic not just of life and death, but also of the questions of beauty, and how society embraces and nurtures such a dynamic. The aesthetic and the conceptual are thus inextricably linked, revealing Warhol’s focus on searching questions of how and why celebrity matters.

Adapted from http://

www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2014/contemporary-art-evening-sale-n09221/lot.27.html

Liz Taylor - backgroundSlide4

Andy Warhol

Brillo

Soap Pads Box,

1964

Silkscreen ink and house paint on plywoodSlide5

Historical and cultural context - What

was the world like that he lived in?

The historical or cultural context of an artist is about the world that they live in, and how they reflect or are influenced by that world. Art is never created in a vacuum, and

art is always a reflection of culture.In this question we examine: “What was the world like that he lived in?

“What was going on politically?What was going on socially?What was going on in terms of technology?What was going on in the art world?What was relevant from the artist’s personal life?And we link all of those to: “How can we see this in his artwork?”Slide6

Andy Warhol – Historical and Cultural Context

What was the world like that he lived in?

What

was going on politically?Since the end of WWII America had experienced peace and stability, but it was an anxious, paranoid peace caused by the Cold War

In the early 1960’s t

he politics of JFK created a feeling of optimism in society (JFK was young and had great ideals (public education, medical care for the elderly, increase the minimum wage, extend prosperity to all of society))What was going on socially? By the end of the 1950’s America was characterised by:It was the world’s richest country, Huge economic growth led to a consumer boomRise of mass media -TVs in 90% of American homes, advertising Rise of youth culture, rock and roll,( Elvis Presley), the idea of the teenagerWhat was going on in terms of technology?Silkscreen printing was a technique used in the mass production of printed imagesMagazines, newspapers, billboards were reproduced mechanicallyTelevision and the print industry – magazines, comics, photography made images available to anyone and easy to reproduceWhat had gone on in the art world?

Abstract expressionism: gestural art that expresses the deep inner feelings of the individual artist through abstract marks. This art celebrates rugged individuality and personal experience. The artist as male hero

.

What is relevant from Warhol’s personal

l

ife?

Warhol originally went to art school and trained as a commercial artist (similar to doing Visual Communications), he worked as an illustrator, drawing images for advertisementsSlide7

Andy Warhol – Historical and Cultural Context – Artwork 1

Explain what aspects of the historical and cultural context you can see reflected in the artwork (it might be a celebration or a critical reaction):

Can you see evidence of the political situation?

Can you see evidence of the societal situation?

Can you see evidence of technological developments?

Can you see a reaction to previous art trends?Slide8

Andy Warhol – Historical and Cultural Context – Artwork 2

Explain what aspects of the historical and cultural context you can see reflected in the

artwork (it might be a celebration or a critical reaction):

Can you see evidence of the political situation?

Can you see evidence of the societal situation?Can you see evidence of technological developments?Can you see a reaction to previous art trends?Slide9

Influences -Who inspired him?

When we explore an artist’s influences we want to know who inspired them.

We look at both artist’s work and ask ‘what are the similarities?’

Artists might

take different things from different people.For example, they get inspired by one person’s use of materials but by another person’s use of aesthetic qualities. Slide10

Andy Warhol - Influences

Features of the

influential

artists:Marcel Duchamp and the Dada art movementSlide11

Andy Warhol - Influences - Artwork

1

How we see the influences in artwork 1“Pop

art is about removing the material from its context and isolating the object or combining it with other objects for contemplation.” http://www.pixel77.com/the-influence-of-art-history-on-modern-design-pop-art/Slide12

Andy Warhol - Influences – Artwork 2

How we see the influences in artwork 2Slide13

Materials and Techniques - How does he make the work?

What they use and how they make the work can be part of an artist’s style.

What they use and how they make the work can create their aesthetic qualities.

What they use and how they make the work can communicate their meanings.Slide14

Andy Warhol - Materials and Techniques Slide15

Andy Warhol - Materials and Techniques

– Artwork 1Slide16

Andy Warhol - Materials and Techniques

– Artwork

2Slide17

Aesthetic Qualities -

What is the mood or look of the work, particularly with

reference to the art

elements?

Aesthetic qualities are the mood or atmosphere of an artwork, as created by the artist’s use of art elements and principles.We study the aesthetic qualities to help us understand how the artwork has an emotional effect on us. We are looking at how the artist has created a feeling.Slide18

Andy Warhol – Aesthetic QualitiesSlide19

Andy Warhol – Aesthetic Qualities –

Artwork 1Slide20

Andy Warhol – Aesthetic Qualities –

Artwork

2Slide21

Communicating Ideas and Meaning - What is the work about?

How is that communicated to us?

Ideas and meanings are communicated in a number of ways

Subject matter: is what we see. This covers what is in the picture. This is usually our first clue to what an artwork is about. (eg a painting of a woman – could be about my mum, youth, the role of women….)Signs and symbols: are objects or images used to represent something else, for example a red rose might

symbolise

love. Artists often develop personal symbols. Symbols are our second clue. (she’s holding a rose, it’s something to do with love)Aesthetic qualities: are the mood or atmosphere of an artwork. They give us the next clue. (the colours are dull and cool and her face is unnaturally twisted, its about lost love…)Slide22

Andy Warhol - Ideas and Meaning

What is the work about?Slide23

Andy Warhol – Subject matter – What do we see? What is in the picture?

What do we see?Slide24

Andy Warhol – Signs and symbols -

What do the images represent? Are there any established symbols in the work?

Slide25

Style -

What are the characteristics of

this artist’s work

?Slide26

Andy Warhol - StyleSlide27

Andy Warhol – Style – Artwork 1Slide28

Andy Warhol – Style – Artwork

2