Andy Warhol
United States
1928-1987

"The Wadsworth Antheneum: Ten Works
by Ten Artists," 1964
Silkscreen
24 x 20 in.
Sweeney Art Gallery Permanent Collection
64.1.5

Andy Warhol devoted himself to the images and style of television, society columns and magazines positioning his work in direct opposition to the beliefs and aesthetic of both the abstract expressionists and the reductivist abstractions of the avant-garde. Through his appropriation of forms of mass-media Warhol exposed the values of contemporary society as reflected in popular imagery, hence the term "Pop Art." Furthermore, his works highlighted the mechanism of repetition through which both celebrity or desire is generated and conversely poignant images are deflated of meaning. This print of police controlling a riot is from his disaster series in which he reproduced newspaper images of actual tragedies to evoke the horrifying detachment between the consumers of media and its subjects.



© UC Regents and the artist.