Andy Warhol fans look ‘beyond the brand’ as adverts come to London for first time
Andy Warhol advertisements from the 1980s are to be displayed in the UK for the first time.
The pop artist created a series of works focused on the decade’s best-known brands.
A selection of these works will be displayed as part of a new London exhibition.
The show, Warhol: Beyond the Brand, will be held at the Halcyon Gallery in Mayfair and will feature 10 canvases of his Ads Set that were created in the 1980s.
The artworks feature vivid colours and imagery of products created by Chanel, Macintosh and Volkswagen.
Information for the show states: “In Andy Warhol’s Ads series of 1985, the viewer is invited to ‘extract’ the advertisement from the imagery presented and, instead, treat it as a work of art.
“Here, Warhol revisits his work in commercial illustration from the early 1950s, appropriating iconic brands, logos and images as the foundation for the series.”
It adds: “Warhol’s selection of images for the Ads series embodied some of the most powerful corporations in America at the time, such as Mobilgas, Paramount Pictures, Disney, and Apple Macintosh.”
Warhol rose to prominence for his initial treatment of pop culture and advertising in the 1950s, famously creating images of multiple cans of Campbell’s tomato soup.
Also on display in London will be images of famous figures who have been given the brightly coloured Warhol treatment, including Mao Zedong, John Wayne, George Armstrong Custer and Elizabeth II.
The Andy Warhol exhibition opens at London’s Halcyon Gallery, 148 New Bond Street, Mayfair on January 18 with a private viewing for clients on January 17.
