Works by the legendary Andy Warhol illuminated the UAB College of Arts and Sciences Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts (AEIVA) in its first major show by a globally renowned artist.
“Warhol: Fabricated” combined pieces from public and private collections, including vivid screenprints featuring everyone from Marilyn Monroe and Vladimir Lenin to Richard Nixon and Geronimo. The free exhibition also spotlighted the nine powerful, never-before-displayed Warhol screenprints and 90 Polaroids and photographic prints given to the UAB College of Arts and Sciences by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts in 2008 and 2013.
Other works included Warhol’s floating “Silver Clouds,” bold wallpapers, and filmed screen tests of Lou Reed and Edie Sedgwick; an iconic photo of the late artist by Bob Adelman (shown above); and pieces by contemporary artist Charles Lutz, who famously submitted his own reproductions of Warhol’s work for official authentication. When the art was stamped “Denied” and returned, Lutz began exhibiting them, drawing attention to issues of reproduction, authenticity, and the market value associated with Warhol’s work.
The pioneering Pop artist not only reshaped the creation and presentation of art, but also the understanding of society, culture, celebrity, and politics, says AEIVA Curator John Fields, M.F.A. “Warhol’s art offered immediate commentary on the evolution of American society and its growing fascination with consumption of goods, media, and information,” he says. Warhol’s pieces seem prescient in the 21st century, as society consumes—and demands—more at a faster pace, adds AEIVA Director Lisa Tamiris Becker, M.F.A.
Curator John Fields reviews a screenprint—part of the AEIVA art collection—that was featured in the Warhol exhibit.
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