The Memorial Art Gallery is pleased to announce the presentation of Andy Warhol Portfolios: A Life in Pop | Works from the Bank of America Collection, featuring 79 original screenprints by the legendary American artist, film director, producer, and publisher Andy Warhol, as well as related ephemera and works depicting Warhol by other artists. This exhibition, loaned through the Bank of America Art in our Communities® program, will be view October 25, 2020 through March 28, 2021.
Presented in MAG’s Docent Gallery, Andy Warhol Portfolios showcases a broad range of the artist’s screen-printed imagery from 1964 to 1985. It includes not only quintessential works such as a 1967 portrait of Marilyn Monroe and the early print portfolios Campbell’s Soup II (1969) and Flowers (1970), but also less familiar subjects. Birmingham Race Riot (1964) and the complete portfolios of Muhammad Ali (1978), Ten Portraits of Jews of the Twentieth Century (1980), and Myths (1981) are just a few of the subjects that underscore the breadth of Warhol’s interest in cultural and political life. The print portfolios Sunset (1972), Grapes (1979), Space Fruit (1979), Endangered Species (1983), and Vesuvius (1985) suggest a different set of concerns, with the traditional art historical subject matters of still-life, landscape, and also of the animal world. Andy Warhol Portfolios provides a rare opportunity to explore iconic Warhol—the renowned exponent and, simultaneously, critic of mass-media, popular culture, and commercialism—and also less well-known but nonetheless important aspects of the artist’s career, providing a fuller understanding of this major figure’s contributions and achievements.
“The arts help economies thrive and enrich societies by creating greater cultural understanding,” said Colleen Matteson, Bank of America Rochester Market President. “Rochester already has a rich arts and culture scene, and Bank of America is pleased to add to that richness by sharing our Andy Warhol Portfolios: A Life in Pop collection. Visitors of The Memorial Art Gallery will be able to experience one of America’s most vibrant artists through Bank of America’s Arts in our Communities program, which loans exhibitions at no cost to our museum and nonprofit gallery partners.”
“We are thrilled to present Rochester audiences with a rich and multifaceted view of Andy Warhol,” said MAG’s Mary W. and Donald R. Clark Director Jonathan P. Binstock, “and we are tremendously grateful to the Bank of America Art in our Communities program for supporting our effort to do so.”
This exhibition has been loaned through the Bank of America Art in our Communities® program.
About Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol (1928–1987) is among the most recognizable and influential artists of all time. For all of his much- discussed dispassion and irony, he had an uncanny sense of the power and influence of American and popular culture, both in its superficial and more profound forms.
About Art in our Communities®
The Bank of America Art in Our Communities Program was established in 2009 in order to share the company’s art collection with the widest possible audience. Comprising the art collections of the predecessor banks that are now part of Bank of America, the program offers museums and nonprofit galleries the opportunity to borrow complete or customized exhibitions at no cost. The public is able to enjoy new art installations at its local museums, while the museums themselves are able to generate vital revenue. Since 2009, more than 140 exhibitions have been loaned through this one-of-a-kind program.