The KAWS x Warhol Exhibit at the Andy Warhol Museum

The first time I saw the KAWS x Warhol exhibit, I did a brief walk through with my layman companion, but the second time I was able to see it, I had a guided tour as part of the Warhol’s Teacher Open House.  The KAWS x Warhol exhibit is a masterclass in how to achieve great things in the art world via commercial avenues.  Warhol started out as an illustrator in advertising, while KAWS started out as an animator and graffiti artist.  As a graffiti artist, KAWS would subvertise ads at bus stops.  This means that he would activate the ad in his own style, frequently with cartoon heads featuring skulls and crossbones.  Andy Warhol’s entry to the art world began with his Campbell Soup cans, and continued with screenprints of popular products, like Chanel perfumes.

Common themes in KAWS and Warhol’s work are the juxtaposition of characters, famous faces, and ideas, creating artwork that defies expectations and creates an emotional response in the viewer.  Anxiety, despair, pleasure, and pain are all emotions at the heart of each artist’s work.  Both artists adeptly play with our perceptions of pop culture and of art materials as a whole.  Some of KAWS’ work consists of bronze sculptures, but are painted to make them look powder soft and plastic.  

Nostalgia is also a key theme in each artist’s work.  The characters and legends that we’ve grown up with, are treated affectionately and irreverently.  From cereal boxes and advertisements to Sesame Street and the Simpsons, each new subject receives a creative treatment that plays with our perceptions of those characters and images.  The Simpsons canvases are packaged like toys, back of the packages included, which can be seen in a row of mirrors behind the canvases.  The whole show, while there are some dark undertones, is just fun – evidence of what a creative mind can do in a playground of images that surround us everyday, from the TV we watch to the groceries we buy to the ads we see walking around our city.  

To conclude our tour, our tour guide asked us a question as food for thought: With so much anxiety, despair, and pain, is there salvation at the end for us?  I wouldn’t go as far as to say salvation, but I would say that play, fun, creativity, and making things are great antidotes. If we returned to the things that brought us pleasure as children, like KAWS and Warhol do, that can provide some relief from the ugliness of the world.

The KAWS x Warhol Exhibit at the Andy Warhol Museum is a must-see show that runs until January 20th, 2025, so there’s still time!  Be sure to start on the second floor, then head to the rest of the exhibit on the 4th floor.  The museum is closed on Tuesdays, but open until 5pm all other days except for Friday, when it is open until 10pm.  I hope you enjoy the show!

The Mint Museum Permanent Collection (Charlotte, NC)

As promised, a review of the permanent collection at the Mint Museum in Charlotte, NC:

I would describe the permanent collection that was on display as carefully procured, eclectic, Surreal, and inclusive.

I went to the modern and contemporary art side first, as I was under a time constraint, and where they had a sculpture in deep purple (Night Wing, c. 1972-78) from Anne Truitt, whose Daybook I would strongly recommend. I’ve read her Daybook, but had never seen her work in person, so catching it at the Mint was a surprise treasure. :)

Cristina Toro, who was also featured in the collage exhibition, had a painting, Without Exception Everything is Reflected in this Mirror, 2015-2016, which is the coolest self portrait I have ever seen, and she is definitely someone to follow, as her work is a visual delight, overflowing with detail, texture, color, and life.

There were also works from Andy Warhol: one of his Marilyn Monroe screenprints. There was also a hand-pulled acrylic and enamel screen print of Nina Simone with diamond dust on linen by Russel Young—which I mistakenly attributed to Andy Warhol in an earlier draft of this post. I took a Boomerang of the print and will be posting it in my Instagram stories for a Flashback Friday. There was also Ed Ruscha, Norman Rockwell, and Ansel Adams, as well as funky surreal works by Harold Lehman and James Guy, a quaint landscape by Constance Richardson, American art from the 30s-50s featuring factory towns and leisure activities, and a through-three-different-doorways portrait of studio and family life by John Wilde, an influencer on American Surrealism.

A favorite subject matter of mine in the work of female artists is that of the transcendent, mysterious, and surreal. Surrealism is one of my favorite genres anyway, but the quiet, spiritual, and enigmatic scenes in work like Gertrude Abercrombie’s Deportation (1948) is as special a find as Anne Truitt’s Night Wing (c. 1972-78). There were also works by Post-Surrealist painter Helen Lundeberg, Poetic Justice (1945), and Surrealist painter Kay Sage’s Ring of Iron, Ring of Wool (1947), all beautiful, dreamy, haunting, and treasures to behold. The work of the 1930s-1940s are way underrated in my opinion, so to see it collected so carefully and lovingly by museums like the Mint is refreshing. I should really go on a personal quest to find as much art from the 1930s and 40s that I can. The 30s gave us Surrealism, factories, daily life, and an explosion of female artists, so it should definitely get more attention. Now on to Romare Bearden.

Romare Bearden’s watercolor work is deeply saturated with color and features city scenes from his life. Screenprints like Salome (1974) depict Biblical scenes with rich texture and pattern. The coolest works by Bearden were his collagraphs of city life featuring buildings, musicians, and other life. Now that I’m looking at them again, I need to do some collagraphs, stat. So freaking cool. Definitely unique and worth checking out.

So to wrap things up, the Mint Museum’s permanent collection is thoughtful, unusual, and worth the trip. I also saw a bathing suit from the early 20th century, which would apparently be worn with full-length dark cotton stockings. What a bummer to have to wear! So thankful society has changed for the better in what qualifies as swimwear, and so thankful to see so many unique pieces in the Mint’s collection. It was refreshing and rejuvenating, and I strongly recommend a visit. :)