The Week UK 21.03.2020

ARTS 33

21 March 2020 THE WEEK

Art

“Inthefuture,everyonewillbe

world-famousfor 15 minutes,”

AndyWarholoncedeclared.

Hisowncelebrityhaslasted

ratherlonger,saidRachel

Campbell-Johnstonin

TheTimes.Indeed,the

“postmodernmannequinin

theplatinum-blondwighas

dominatedourartscenefor

morethan 50 years”;sincehis

deathin 1987 attheageof

58 ,hehasbeenthesubject

ofcountlessexhibitionsand

books;anew1,000-page

biographyisabouttobe

published.Lastweek,the

TateopeneditsthirdWarhol

retrospective–onlyto

promptlycloseitduetothe

Covid-19crisis.Acompre-

hensivedisplay,itcoversevery

aspectofhiscareer,fromthe

iconicsoupcans,Marilynsand

Elvisestolesser-knownefforts,

including hisearly work asa

commercialillustrator,anda

rarelyseenseriesofportraits

fromthe1970sdepictingblack andLatinodrag queens. Featuring

no endof Warhol ephemera –thereis evenaselectionofhis

signaturewigs, displayedin avitrine“like piecesofroadkill” –it

isallgreat fun.Yetonequestionhangsover everythinghere:does

theworldreally need anotherAndy Warholexhibition?

Thisisthe “mostunorthodox”WarholretrospectiveI’veseen,

saidBenLukein theLondon EveningStandard.Unlike previous

shows,itdelves deeplyintotheartist’s personallife,emphasising

hisSlovakianimmigrant

roots,hisCatholicismandhis

oftenignoredhomosexuality.

Itbegins“promisingly”,

showcasing“erotic”early

drawings.There’sa

surprisinglybriefdisplay

ofhismostfamouspopart,

andareconstructionofthe

multimediadisplayshe

designedforVelvet

Undergroundconcerts.

Elsewhere,there’saRichard

Avedonphotographof

Warhol’snakedtorso

followinghisnear-fatal

shootingbyValerieSolanas

atTheFactoryin1 96 8,which

testifiestothe“chronicpain”

hesufferedfortherestofhis

life.Yetwholephasesofhis

careerarebarelyaddressed,

andthere are many glaring

omissions. All inall,it’sa

slight disappointment.

Idisagree,said AdrianSearle

in TheGuardian.Thefocus

on “sex, queerness, deathandreligion”–Warhol’sconstant

themes–iswell-judged, andthe artitselfstillseems

extraordinarily“prescient”.Theshow’sclimaxcomesinthe

exhibition’s finalroom,containinghis silk-screened reproduction

of Leonardo’sTheLast Supper,“repeated60 timesacrossa

panoramiccanvas”in anotherwise empty gallery.Thework–

whichwas createdinresponse tothe Aids crisis–is“gritty,stark

an doverwhelming”. This isafascinatingexhibition thatgives us

the Warhol weneedin2020.Icouldhavestayed forho urs.

Exhibition of the week Andy Warhol

Tate Modern, London SE1 (020-7887 8888, tate.org.uk)

Iwan Lewis’s paintings are absorbing

thingsthat draw the viewerinwith

allusionstofauvism, Matisse-like

figurationanddense,impenetrable

depictions of naturalscenery.This

exhibitiondrawsheavily onthe

Welshlanguage andfolk mythology –

“Annwn”, theshow’stitle,beingthe

Celtic equivalent of the Elysian Fields,

aplace ofabundance andeternalyouth.

Throughout,Lewis (b.1980)employs

flowing outlines thatdistinguish the

figures inhiscompositions from the

chaotic contextsin whichthey find

themselves. Every painting here is

thrillinglydramatic:lonely figuresor

hybridhuman-animal creaturesdrawn

in naïfformshield their eyes from the

spectator’s view; the backgrounds,

meanwhile, aretumultuous,storms

of clashing colour that suggest harsh

natural extremes.Thereare some

unexpected art historicalreferences

here:nods to the neo-romanticism

of John Minton andthe early work

of Frank Auerbachor Leon Kossoff.

Pricesrange from£650to£3,000.

24a Penarth Centre, HatchamRoad,

LondonSE15 (07971-295055).

Until 11 April.

DebbieHarry(1980):aprimeexampleofWarhol’sfamouspopart

Where to buy...

The Week reviews an

exhibition inaprivate gallery

Iwan Lewis: Annwn

at Sid Motion Gallery

Citrus Sun (2020), 46cm×38cm, £800

Do you fancy buyingaPicasso fore100?

Nature Morte–meaning still life–a1921

pain ting ofanewspaper andabottle of

absinthe by the Spanish master, is being

raffled off for charity on 30 March. The

painting, estimated to be worth between

£1.54m and £2.3m, is currently owned by the

billionaire art dealer David Nahmad, who owns

300 works by Picasso and claims to be the

world’s biggest private collector of his art.

Nahmad thinks that the artist would have

liked the idea. “Picasso was very generous,”

he said. “He wanted his art to be collected by

all kinds of people, not only by the super-rich.”

The money raised will go to Care,acharity

that brings clean water to communities in

Africa. The aim is to sell 200,000 tickets on

the website 1picasso100euros.com, raising

atotal ofe20m.

Picasso forapinch

©2

019 THE ANDY WARHOL FOUNDATION FOR THE VISUAL ARTS, INC/ARTISTS RIGHT SOCIETY (ARS), NEW YORK AND DACS, LONDON; SUCCESSION PICASSO, PARIS, 2019

Most public galleries are now closed to the public owing to the public health crisis