Andy Warhol: Beyond the Brand
18th January – 7th April 2024
Halcyon Gallery
29 New Bond Street
Mayfair, London W1S 2RL
148 New Bond Street
Mayfair, London, W1S 2TR
London
This exhibition runs across Halcyon Gallery two Mayfair spaces
Halcyon Gallery will open an exhibition dedicated to the life and work of American pop artist and cultural icon Andy Warhol from the 18th January. Bringing together his most iconic print portfolios, commercial work and rarely seen original canvases, Beyond the Brand will encompass the full range of Warhol’s pictorial inventions and demonstrate the extraordinary power of his unique artistic vision. The exhibition is spread across the gallery’s two Mayfair sites, at 29 and 148 New Bond Street.
Warhol explored the intersection between art and commerce like no other artist in history and this has had profound implications for subsequent generations. This is most clearly expressed in the Ads series, which was created both as a portfolio of prints and as a set of ten paintings on canvas. For this body of artworks, Warhol reimagined famous adverts, marketing Apple computers, Volkswagen cars and Chanel No. 5 amongst others, rendering them with vibrant colours and transforming them into powerful works of art. Both the silkscreen prints and the paintings will be displayed together in the UK for the first time making this show a must-see for Warhol enthusiasts and collectors alike.
Paul Green, Founder and President of Halcyon Gallery said ‘For over 30 years, Halcyon has been privileged to participate in the acquisition and sale of works by one of the most important and influential artists the world has ever seen. Our long-standing commitment to building distinguished art collections; putting on world class, museum scale exhibitions that are freely accessible to the general public; and working closely with prestigious institutions around the globe, has only enhanced our expertise in showcasing and handling his work.’
In addition to the Ads series, many of Warhol’s most iconic print portfolios will be on display including Marilyn Monroe, Queen Elizabeth II, Chairman Mao, Muhammad Ali and the Endangered Species collection, which, says Kate Brown, ‘is a much-loved portfolio and still very relevant today.’ Other highlights include rarely seen original canvases such as Warhol’s portrait of Pelé. This painting was owned by the football legend who was presented it by Warhol himself. Some of the artist’s monumental late works will be exhibited such as his painting of Mount Vesuvius and a vibrant
canvas depicting a watch by Swiss brand Rado, produced in the final months of Warhol’s life.
Image courtesy of Halcyon Gallery
Halcyon Gallery‘s smaller exhibition space, at 29 New Bond Street, celebrates Warhol’s iconic Campbell’s Soup Cans, which are accompanied by ephemera that illustrates the extraordinary impact that the artist’s best-known motif has had on culture. Accompanying the soup cans is a Campbell’s Soup Box, a vibrant three-dimensional canvas that was commissioned by Campbell’s to commemorate the launch of a new product in 1986. An immersive room in 148 New Bond Street will feature the much-admired Andy Mouse portfolio by Keith Haring portraying Warhol as Mickey Mouse, swimming in dollar bills and dancing in a nightclub.
Art historian and museum curator Joachim Pissarro’s accompanying essay to the exhibition explains: ‘Ads is a masterful culmination of Warhol’s career-long interest in the blurred lines between commercialism and fine art, and it resituates these omnipresent themes into a new state-of-the art array consonant with this late era’s zeitgeist.’
These works are a testament to the remarkable influence of Warhol on artists like Haring and Jean Michel–Basquiat – as well as the changing face of the New York art scene. This immersive space takes inspiration from Haring’s ‘Pop Shop’ to celebrate the convergence of graffiti art and fine art, that took place for the first time in the 80s, and for which Warhol was a crucial driving force.
Andy Warhol: Beyond the Brand opens at Halcyon Gallery, from the 18th of January 2024 until the 7th of April 2024
©2024 Halcyon Gallery
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