Book Description

"Andy Warhol: Revelation, opening October 20, 2019, will be accompanied by this 96 page full-color exhibition catalogue. This publication includes a forward from Patrick Moore, the director of The Andy Warhol Museum, an essay by José Carlos Diaz, chief curator at The Warhol, titled "Into the Sunset" on the spiritual aspects of Warhol's "Sunset" commission in 1967, and an essay by Miranda Lash, curator of contemporary art at the Speed Art Museum, titled "Kitsch You Can Believe In: Warhol's Incessant Last Supper." The book will also feature descriptions of the thematic exhibition sections, along with high quality image plates of selected works and a comprehensive checklist of all the objects featured in the show. The Revelation catalogue will provide a snapshot of the exhibition, which will be the first of its kind to comprehensively examine the Pop artist's complex Catholic faith in relation to his artistic production. In what follows, you will find a summary of the scope and scale of the exhibition's content: Christian motifs frequently appear in both explicit and metaphorical forms throughout the body of Warhol's oeuvre. While his monumental crosses and depictions of Christ directly reference biblical stories, the exhibition will also explore his coded depictions of spirituality such as an unfinished film reel depicting the setting sun, originally commissioned by the de Menil family and funded by the Roman Catholic Church. Born in Pittsburgh to a devout Byzantine Catholic family, Warhol grew up attending multiple weekly services at his local church with his mother, Julia Warhola. He would stare for hours at the icon paintings of Christ and the saints that hung in the elaborate iconostasis, or icon screen, at the front of the nave. In the Warhola family's Carpatho-Rusyn neighborhood, life revolved around the church community, and the young artist was deeply affected by this environment. Using The Warhol's robust holdings of the artist's early works, the exhibition will trace the influence of his religious roots in Pittsburgh to his Pop career in New York City. Throughout his life as a celebrity artist, Warhol retained some of his Catholic practices when his peers were distancing themselves from their religious backgrounds. Yet, his relationship with Catholicism was far from simple. As a queer man, Warhol may have felt a sense of guilt and fear towards the Catholic Church, which kept him from fully immersing himself in the faith. Nevertheless, he used various media to explore this tension through his art. From iconic portraits of celebrities to appropriated Renaissance masterpieces, Warhol flirted with styles and symbolism from Eastern and Western Catholic art history, carefully reframing them within the context of Pop. Through this process, the artist elevated kitsch and mundane images from mass media, and transformed them into sacred high art. The exhibition will feature over 100 objects from the museum's permanent collection, including archival materials, drawings, paintings, prints and film. Rare source material and newly discovered items will provide an intimate look on Warhol's creative process. Through both obscure works such as the "sunset" film commission from 1967 and late masterpieces like the pink Last Supper (1986), the exhibition will present a fresh perspective on the artist. Andy Warhol: Revelation is curated by José Carlos Diaz, chief curator at The Andy Warhol Museum. After opening at The Warhol, Andy Warhol: Revelation will travel to the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky and be on view from April 3 through August 21, 2020"--