Andy Warhol (American, 1928–1987). The Last Supper, 1986. Acrylic and screen print on linen, 78×306×2 in. (198.1×777.2×5.1 cm). The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Founding Collection,ContributionThe Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc., 1998. 1. 355. ©2021 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Licensedby Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Written by Emily Capone
Edited by Jana Massoud

The body of Andy Warhol’s oeuvre is as enigmatic and contradictory as the man himself. In his posthumous exhibition, Revelation, at The Brooklyn Museum, curator José Carlos works in tandem with Carmen Hermo and the Andy Warhol Museum of Pittsbrugh to create a monumental installation which leaves traces of Warhol’s creative fingerprint across Catholic imagery. Like many, I was just as surprised to learn of Andy Warhol’s understated love for the faith he and his family practiced as Byzantine Catholics who immigrated from Slovakia, especially as Warhol was openly gay at a time before the mainstream LGBTQ+ rights movement.

Andy Warhol (American, 1928–1987). Crosses, 1981–82. Acrylic and screen print on linen, 20×16 in. (50.8×40.6 cm). The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Founding Collection, Contribution The AndyWarhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc., 1998. 1. 264. © 2021 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Each section of the exhibition becomes a small chapter of Warhol’s life, starting with his family beginnings in Pittsburgh, PA, in a section called “Immigrant Roots and Religion”. I was taken with how unapologetic Warhol’s entire body of art truly became, even in the shadow of his own doubts and fears concerning the collection. “Will they accept me?” he seems to ask through each piece. With a full array of memorabilia and family heirlooms passed down from mother to son, like a multitude of crucifixes and canonical icons, each piece holds the key to an extremely intimate connection to the man, the mother, and the art.

Possibly a larger and more direct undertone within this collection is Andy Warhol’s relationship with his mother, as well as his understanding of women and their status in society, as in the collection “Madonna and Magdalen: Warhol and Women”. Gilded gold behind the image of the Nativity Scene of the Madonna affixes to Warhol’s artistic identity, and translates into his own prolific body of oeuvre focusing on the rich and famous: the Madonna, or the matriarchal (meaning “my lady” in Old Italian) and the sway of Magdalen (muse), such as in his series on Jackie Kennedy or the gilded Marilyn Monroe.

Yes, Warhol took pride in expression through art, but he also felt a constant pull towards his faith-bound roots, as in his study of The Last Supper (1986). Warhol revisits Leonardo DaVinci’s iconic painting in a variety of his own ways, tearing down what has always been a sturdy figure in society (the Christ-Savior) through changes in color and reflection. It isn’t a complete erasure of the man in question, however. Instead, Warhol’s art has always been a study of how he as a gay man fits into a cisgender, male-dominated world of right versus wrong in a predominantly Christian environment.

Andy Warhol (American, 1928–1987). Orange Disaster #5, 1963. Acrylic, screenprint, graphite on canvas, 106×81 1/2 in. (269.2×207cm). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York Gift, Harry N.Abrams Family Collection, 1974, 74. 2118. © 2021 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

While Warhol gained his fame and notoriety through vibrant pop-art that elevate the kitsch and the mundane (think Campbell’s soup cans), the lesser-known duality of Warhol as a Catholic is quite literally pressed into the walls of this exhibit. The Raphael Madonna-$6.99 installation transports me into the Vatican, but with a cartoonish-pop of color and a large red price-tag. While the Mother of the Church is priceless in its true form as a Catholic icon, Warhol once again refers to the never-ending American saga of consumerism through the cheapened price-tag, while questioning the roles of both Madonna and the Christ-Child, reversing the gender roles of each with bright pink and blue garments.

Warhol hints to his own understanding of the role his mother, Julia Warhola, plays and how it connects to him as son. An example of this is in Julia Warhola’s drawings, which adorn one wall of the exhibit. Warhola’s Angel Holding Cross drawing for example, rises from the page with child-like affection, and each stroke of the angel’s dress and curl-tipped wings seems to resonate with Warhola’s devotion her faith. However, the underlying tone of the role between mother and child or woman and society seem to affix themselves to Warhol’s work throughout his life. Yes, the Catholics believe that the Mother of the Church is the highest role; she is a queen in Heaven. However, the exclusion of women within Catholic Church rites is continuously questioned and reflected in the society of Warhol’s generation.

Andy Warhol (American, 1928–1987). Still from Reel 77**** (FourStars), 1967. 16mm film, transferred to digital video (color, sound): approximately 15min. © 2021 The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA, a museum of Carnegie Institute. All rights reserved. Film still courtesy of The Andy Warhol Museum

Perhaps the most poignant work, however, is in Warhol’s reel, 77****(Four Stars), 1987, which ended abruptly, due to Andy Warhol’s unforeseen complications after a gallbladder surgery, and his death in that same year. Images of a setting sun play as the artist’s final monument, in tandem with Jesus Christ’s final goodbye in The Last Supper scene. It is fitting then, that the complicated and mesmerizing career of such a monumental figure in art history should end his with a recorded sunset, and it is a testament to the curators of The Brooklyn Museum for bringing the man behind the art to view for a final hurrah.

Andy Warhol’s last tribute is filled with monuments of his and his mother’s appreciation for Catholic art in its many forms, as well as a deep dive into the nuances of Warhol’s life as an openly gay man in America. Revelation will be on view at The Brooklyn Museum, NY from November 1, 2022 – June 19, 2022. The exhibit is organized by the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, The Brooklyn Museum and Chief Curator, José Carlos and Associate Curator, Carmen Hermo.

Feb 16 Exhibition Review: Andy Warhol: Revelation

Feb 16 Exhibition Review: Lynn Saville: Dark Cities

Feb 14 Exhibition Review: Nobuyoshi Araki: Shi Nikki (Private Diary) for Robert Frank

Related Posts