“Warhol Unlimited” at the Musée d'Art moderne de la Ville de Paris (MAM) takes as its point of departure Warhol’s epic work “Shadows” (1978-79), which is being shown in its entirety for the first time in Europe as part of the exhibition.
As well as highlighting the serial side of Warhol’s oeuvre, “Warhol Unlimited” also explores the way he reshaped modes of perception by innovatively engaging with time and space in the staging of his works – what MAM describes as “his ability to rethink the way art should be exhibited.”
Owned by the DIA Art Foundation in New York, “Shadows” comprises 102 silkscreened canvases of 17 different colours totaling more than 130 metres in length.
“I called them ‘Shadows’ because they are based on a photo of a shadow in my office,” Warhol explained in an article in the New York Gazette in 1979. When asked whether the “Shadows” were art, Warhol said no. “You see, the opening party had disco. I guess that makes them disco décor,” he said.
“Warhol Unlimited” brings together more than 200 works including examples from some of Warhol’s most famous series such as the “Electric Chairs” (1964–1971), the “Jackies” (1964), the “Flowers” (1964–1965) and the “Maos” (1972–1973).
Other highlights include examples of the artist’s “Brillo Boxes” (1964), “Self-portraits” (1966–1967, 1981), and “Screen Tests” (1964–1966), as well as the “Cows” wallpaper (1966), his experimental film “Empire” (1964), “Silver Clouds” (1966), and environments created for concerts by the Velvet Underground such as that of “Exploding Plastic Inevitable (1966).”
“Warhol Unlimited” is at the Musée d'Art moderne de la Ville de Paris until February 7, 2016
