Serial Artist. Gallarate, Warhol’s great exhibition at Ma*ga

THERE ARE MORE THAN 200 ARTWORKS, WITH LOANS FROM THE ANDY WARHOL MUSEUM IN PITTSBURGH AND FROM THE RONALD NAMETH ARCHIVE

He designed shoes successfully for the I.Miller society, but in the early 1960s Andy Warhol had the idea to interpret the illusion of the contemporary: this, after being deeply impressed by the Las Vegas neon signs. This is how American Pop Art was born. It was heir to what was the English one that, at the beginning, had used poor materials. However, the Warhol’s serigraphs on photographic matrix on one side mimed a sort of advertising consumerism (e.g. the most famous Campbell’s Soup), on the other side they critically highlighted how everything could be acquired as a quick emotional reception: the Marilyn Monroe portrait to be visually consumed as the Mao one or as that of an electric chair or an apple. Now, the entire journey of the American Master is proposed until June 18th in the MA*GA wide spaces. 

HE IS THE FORERUNNER OF THE QUICK CONSUMPTION OF THE IMAGE THAT CHARACTERIZES OUR TIME

The exhibition “Andy Warhol Serial Identity”, curated by Maurizio Vanni and Emma Zanella, presents 200 artworks also coming from international institutions such as the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh and the Ronald Nameth archive. They are divided into sections that allow the visitor to linger on various topics taken from time to time into consideration. Apparently it seems an uneven story in the topics covered, but it is perfectly even in the way of making the images on paper or canvas. The starting point is dedicated to shoes, as a descriptive approach of a talented graphic designer which explores the consumerism world which was imposing, first in the United States and then in Europe.

AN ENTIRE SECTION DEDICATED TO MOVIES AND TELEVISION PRODUCTIONS SUCH AS SILENT MOVIE, EMPIRE, KISS

So, there are those icons that have decreed his immediate success: the Marilyns, multiplied in the past colors on an identical smiling and allusive face, mark a certain rush
to distribute the celebrity. While Mao’s face is treated as a movie star or one of the rich collectors that ask for a Warhol pictorial gesture. It was conceived in 1972 on the occasion of the thaw between the USA and China: a sort of chromatic underlining of the allusive smile that is renewed by changing in repetitions; perhaps, this goes beyond the apparent serigraphic intent. But this exhibition proposes  less known works and documents, just as significant as Warhol’s creativity: such as movies and television productions. The Silent Movies like Empire, Kiss and a series of Screen Tests that will introduce the visitor to his studio background through film shoots. 

THE EXHIBITION PROPOSES LESS KNOWN WORKS AND DOCUMENTS, THEREFORE EVEN MORE SIGNIFICANT AS WARHOL'S CREATIVITY

A video of one of his performances, made by Roland Nameth in 1966, appears in the exhibition too.
Therefore, an all-round Andy Warhol where its role as a forerunner of the quick consumption of the image that characterizes our time emerges.