Warhol in Motion: Andy Warhol

Press release

Galerist accommodates the first Warhol exhibition in Turkey; ‘Warhol in Motion’, and it contains the films, videos and polaroids of the legendary American artist Andy Warhol, who is considered to be one of the most important names of the 20th century art.

The exhibition that will be realized from June 8 to July 9, 2011 and its sister activities aim to bring together the art lovers with the well known works of the artist, who is not only a pioneer in the world of contemporary art but also in the fields of fashion, design and cinema.    

The exhibition, which will be realized through the collaboration of the Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts, The Andy Warhol Museum and Galerist as a result of a long term correspondence, consists of some significant works that were created by using cinema and photography techniques by Andy Warhol, who is one of the major iconic figures of POP ART that brought a new interpretation to the 20th century art in the aesthetic perspective. The importance of Warhol in contemporary art lies in the usage of various practices simultaneously, in addition to his paintings. The “Warhol in Motion” exhibition at Galerist will present his works that he produced while experimenting at his renowned workshop “Factory”, which he founded in 1962, in New York. The works in the exhibition have a feature that brings on both the artist’s creative efforts and some popular Americans like Dennis Hopper, Mick Jagger, Joan Collins and Liza Minelli.

Andy Warhol was born in Pittsburgh, in 1928, as the child of a poor farmer family emigrated from Slovakia. After studying Graphic Design in the same city, he moved to New York, which he will never leave until his passing away. Although he succeeded in making people accepting him as a designer; his recognition as an artist, through his paintings that he made with his serigraphy technique (like Campbell Soups, Elvis, Monroe, James Dean and Jackie Kennedy) did not happen until 1960’s. The artist started to experiment on filming techniques at his workshop he named “Factory” in 1962; after 1965, he has become one of the figures that defines the agenda of New York art scene. (Quotation: “I love to do the same thing over and over again“, 1962). His work, involving  many important artists and pop stars of the era, during his activities in the fields of underground movie making, publication (interviews) and Pop Music (Velvet Underground), established his “cult artist” identity, which continues its influence even today. In 1968, Warhol is confronted with an armed assault. During these years, he made an icon out of himself through the portraits he made by using the photographs he took with a Polaroid camera and his sub-imagery that belongs to the popular culture; and succeeded in building an influence circle that also covers the fields of music, movie and design. The exhibition at Galerist focuses on the works of the artists created during this period. The diaries of the artist that were published in 1989, his private archives (“Time Capsules”) that were started to be opened since 1990’s and the works of the Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts, are still keeping the artist in the agenda of international contemporary art.

The “Warhol in Motion” exhibition can be seen at all three sites of Galerist situated at Galatasaray, Akaretler and Tepebaşı through June 8 – July 9, 2011                

Installation Views