Andy Warhol’s art fits in the postmodernism category. Postmodernism is a body of art that contradicts with the modernism and emerged with movements such as conceptual art, installation art, pop art, intermedia, and multimedia (Postmodern Art, 2018). Andy Warhol’s work mostly involves pop art making it postmodern art. As a pop art artist, he created a new version of art that was both new and original. Pop art also involved a combination of low art and high art. As a postmodern artist, Andy Warhol’s work also involved the combination of writing and images within his artwork. The use of pop art in his work recreated ordinary objects but used irony and humor to transform the art into cultural icons.
Warhol’s artwork exemplified postmodernism ideas especially through his form, use of celebrity figures, and originality. Postmodernism came about shortly after World War II. It pulls away from the modern focus of originality and the work is intentionally impersonal. Warhol’s work showed lack of interest in the previous conventions of art. This helped transform the face of art in the world and made him recognized as a postmodern artist. A lot of his work reveals mechanical and deskilled means. He uses silk screen in his work which removes a direct touch. He further uses subjects that play off the idea of mass production.
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One of Andy Warhol’s most popular art is Gold Marilyn Monroe. He made the painting the year when Marilyn Monroe, a screen legend, committed suicide (Gold Marilyn Monroe, 2018). The work of art reveals a structured illusion of Monroe herself. Just like the star, the image is transient, bold, compelling, but vulnerable. The colors on the image are outstanding as it uses gold color in the background and uses it to surround the face. Silkscreen ink is one of the main materials used to create the painting. The image is painted on canvas to bring out an emotional sensation and display Marilyn Monroe as a goddess of sensuality.
Warhol combines color creatively to come up with an image that is outstanding. Warhol uses a golden brown color to create the background of the picture. The background is painted dark while the center is lighter compared to the sideways. This brings focus to the woman’s gaze. The use of golden yellow color at the hair represents the beautiful and curly hair of Marilyn Monroe. Brighter yellow color is used at the right while the left uses golden yellow color mixed with black. This gives the impression that a shadow is cast to the head by blocking light which comes from the right side.
The most extraordinary feature of the painting is Marilyn Monroe’s face as it represents his version of her. He succeeded in conceptualizing the famous and recreating it according to his own fashion. The main objective of the painting is that Marilyn Monroe was beautiful and a sex symbol in the society. He achieved this theme through the creative use of a combination of colors to create a picture that glues the observer.
The image reminds me postmodernism art covered in class. From class, we learned of the history, emergence, and forms of postmodernism. Postmodernism replaced the modernism form of art that was active between the years 1860 and 1950. Postmodernism came out with the idea of technological positivity. The use of Neo-Dada and Pop art during post-war America marked the beginning of postmodernism. Andy Warhol’s art is an application of pop art in postmodernism learned in class (Warhol, 2018).
References
Gold Marilyn Monroe. 1962 | MoMA . (2018). The Museum of Modern Art . Retrieved 22 March 2018, from https://www.moma.org/collection/works/79737
Postmodern Art - Modern Art Terms and Concepts . (2018). The Art Story . Retrieved 22 March 2018, from http://www.theartstory.org/definition-postmodernism.htm
Warhol, Gold Marilyn Monroe . (2018). Khan Academy . Retrieved 22 March 2018, from https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-1010/pop/v/warhol-gold-marilyn-monroe-1962