Andy Warhol : Other Voices, Other Rooms
Andy Warhol, the godfather of Pop Culture, is an icon in the annals of history. Perhaps best known for his repetitions of consumer goods and visual comments on celebrity, the work channelled out from his ubiquitous New York Factory has earned the eccentric creative deserved stardom.
Other voices, other rooms is an exploration of Warhol and his world of the like previously unseen. Titled from a novel of self-discovery by Warhol’s hero, Truman Capote, we are offered a rare insight to the artist, his work, his muses and his evolution from a talented graphic designer to world-renowned creative figure.
The array of artefacts in the exhibition offers an incredible insight into the working of Warhol. Large screens hang from the ceiling of the first room playing screen tests on repeat by stars of Warhol’s films, required simply to sit and stare at the camera for the length of a 100 foot roll of film. Projected at 16 frames per second instead of 24, the effect is a disconcertingly haunting presence of eyes from history observing the contemporary audience. Staring from the screen, unblinking and silent, the effect is like an Orwellian leap through a pocket of time.
The collection of work on display shows development from initial screen print experiments and gold leaf illustrations to the images we know and love through to later, solely film-based media. Throughout this journey of Andy Warhol’s career the recurring themes of celebrity, success, failure, identity, money and power are explored and echoed in various forms. The film footage of the Factory diaries pre-empts our hunger for reality TV, and rolls of footage illustrating time in the Factory in New York alongside interviews with Warhol and his entourage offer a mullti-sensory window to their world in the 70’s and 80’s.
The source imagery used for screenprinting and photography work often takes the form of repeating Polaroid images, photobooth strips and Instamatix camera prints. The effect of documenting subjects in this way gives an instant form of reproduction, the bare bones of a moment captured in film that speaks of the Andy Warhol experience in an eclectic collection of visual comments on the artist and his times.
The collection of ephemera selected from the 600 or so time capsule boxes preserved by Warhol over decades offer a fabulously well preserved slice of past pop culture; alongside his personal correspondence, photos, magazines and miscellany they stand as works of art in their own right, and give an idea of the true personanilty behind the public persona,
The exhibition provides a layered effect, a collection of moments and sounds, images and artworks that maketh the man. With our consumption of celebrity and pop culture at an all time high in the 21st century, Warhol’s comments from beyond the grave are prophetic and resonant; from the footage of Edie Sedgwick filmed watching herself on screen to the ‘soap operas’ shown on TV, the futuristic views of Warhol are the realities of culture today.
This is a wonderful exhibition ensuring the voice of the artist is heard loud and clear from another room - a deserved celebration of Warhol and his world. Don’t miss it.
Andy Warhol: Other Voices, Other Rooms, The Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX until 18 January 2009
