Using the European debut of Andy Warhol’s “Shadows” (1978-79) paintings as a cornerstone, the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris brings together more than 200 of the artist’s serial works in the exhibition “Warhol Unlimited.”
Exhibition co-curator Hervé Vanel said that 72 of the silkscreened canvases —which are normally on permanent display at the Dia Art Foundation — in “Shadows” hang at MAM in a rectangular room specifically built for the work. The entire exhibition features 102 of the original 108 panels, which were commissioned by Heiner Friedrich and Philippa de Menil. The other six works, Vanel said, “have the same fate as the ‘Jackies’ and are living the life of Warhol’s other serial pieces,” in private collections.
The MAM exhibition presents 30 more “Shadows” panels than are typically displayed. “It’s striking at the Dia,” Vanel said, “but the huge difference for me is the room where we exhibit at MAM is curved.”
Visitors can get up close and personal to examine details in the works, or they can step back and take in the full experience.
“It was really absurd to me to think that the relationship to the work would be contemplative, one work after the other,” said Vanel.
For him, the pieces in “Shadows” create a rhythmic pattern that unfolds like a filmstrip. At MAM, the panels trail off around a curvature, and viewers cannot see where it ends. The effect is hypnotizing and compels visitors move through the space.
From “Flowers,” “Brillo Boxes,” and the “Self-Portraits” to the “Cows” wallpaper, “Maos,” and “Jackies,” the rest of the exhibition turns MAM into a polished Warhol warehouse where visitors can plunge into the artist’s distinctive pop art universe of repetition.
“We tried to show how different levels of culture are constantly intersecting throughout Warhol’s career,” Vanel said. “That’s something that’s rarely or truly never discussed.”
Much of Warhol’s work, especially “Shadows,” Vanel said, looks to itself for gaps and discrepancies, flaws and what seem to be mistakes as points of interest. “The motif is a surface accident,” he said. “Warhol was always looking for those moments where there was too much or not enough ink.”
When “Shadows” made its debut, Warhol said it must be “disco décor,” because there was disco at the opening. Today, Vanel said, “What it remains is a piece that in a gentle way forces us to reconsider our relationship to art and artworks.”
“Warhol Unlimited” is on view through February 7, 2016.
