Discovering Pop Art – Warhol style

“Everyone will be famous for 15 minutes.” Andy Warhol

I hope this post doesn’t get me infamous for 15 minutes, especially since I flouted the no photo rule (I did not use flash!), and sneakily took a couple of photos of the exhibits (like two?), just to get this written for my blog.

I have always been quite rebellious as a child, so ‘no photos’ rule, and being told off by a nosy woman with her remark, “You are not suppose to take photos,” (like who is she, my parent?), obviously did not stop me. So just let’s keep this between us ok ;)?

I find it puzzling though; Why no photographs? This can be easily prevented by the “no flash/ no tripod policy,” or maybe it is a question of the loans on display. The museum is able to show the exhibits to the public but not have the public photographed them. Maybe they are afraid that the photo reproductions will be duplicated to wall-sized and framed then sold?

But looking at the photo angles that I have taken of the exhibits, I doubt anyone would even consider buying them from me.

Enough said, now’s here a quick run through of Andy Warhol’s 15 minutes Eternal exhibition:

“An artist is someone who produces things that people don’t need to have.” – Andy Warhol

Right before the we viewed the exhibits, we watched a snippet of an interview with Andy Warhol, which went like this:

“Interviewer: “Andy do you feel that the public has insulted your art?”
Andy Warhol: “Uh no.”
I: “Why not?”
AW: “Uh well I hadn’t thought about it.”
I: “It doesn’t bother you at all then?”
AW: “Uh no.”
I: “Well do you think that they have shown a lack of appreciation for what pop art means?”
AW: “Uh no.”
I: “Andy do you think that pop art has sort of reached the point where it’s becoming repetitious now?”
AW: “Uh yes.”
I: “Do you think it should break away from being pop art?”
AW: “Uh no.”
I: “Are you just going to carry on?”
AW: “Uh yes.” ― Andy Warhol

A visit to an Andy Warhol exhibition will not be complete without a photo of the famous Campbell Soup series. These were Warhol’s pop paintings created in the 60s that caused a sensation in the art world at that time.

“I like boring things,” – Andy Warhol

“I’ve decided something: Commercial things really do stink. As soon as it becomes commercial for a mass market it really stinks.” – Andy Warhol

Warhol’s Cow Wallpaper 1966, flanking the Heinz boxes.

The Cow wallpaper was Andy Warhol’s initial formal effort for making wallpaper part of his creative territory. His seemingly mundane work isn’t meaningless, as the Cow Wallpaper was meant to be more of a comic statement of parisian wallpaper art at that point, rather than a mechanical repetition.

Warhol’s first exhibition of sculptures held in 1964, included hundreds of replicas of large supermarket boxes, including Heinz Boxes.

The exhibition also featured Warhol’s work from the 70s, which consisted of commissions for painted portraits from wealthy socialites, musicians and film stars, as well as various paintings and photos from the 80s.

We ended off the exhibition with a hands-on ‘art’ activity provided by the Art Science Museum.

It wasn’t quite Warhol’s style of art, but we appreciated the little activity nonetheless for K which kept him busy for a while.

“Art is what you can get away with.” – Andy Warhol

The activity was made a little more fascinating when K gave the museum assistants his completed creation. They popped it in the toaster for less than a minute and the ‘plastic-like piece’ where K drew on shrank into 1/6 of its size.

We then donned the signature silver colored wig and black rimmed glasses and gave our best interpretation of Andy Warhol.

In the spirit of Warhol’s pop art style. I attempted my photoshop version of a pop art portrait of the little guy. If you have Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, check out this tutorial. Really, it is not as hard as it looks.

If you are planning to extend this visit with a hands-on art lesson for your preschooler, here are some ideas you can explore with your child;

– Art Smarts for Kids

– Let’s Heart Art

Here are some recommended books that you can read with your child about Andy Warhol’s art

– Andy Warhol (getting to know the world’s greatest artist)

– Uncle Andy’s (written by Andy Warhol’s nephew)

– For the really little ones Andy Warhol’s Colours

Andy Warhol’s 15 Minutes Eternal

17 March – 21 October 2012

Singapore ArtScience Museum

10am – 10pm daily

Adult – $15.00   Child (age 2-12) – $9.00

Do note :  This exhibition can be a quick visual introduction into pop art for a preschooler, however it might get quite challenging to sustain a typical 3-6 year old’s attention for some parts of the exhibition. Do highlight to your child Andy Warhol’s signature pop art creations and some of his whimsical art pieces, and consider leaving the rest of the browsing of photographs and self-portraits for the adults only.

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