Warhol / Icon
dal 5/10/2009 al 9/1/2010
Segnalato da
5/10/2009
Warhol / Icon
Byzantine and Christian Museum, Athens
Set against the backdrop of the world's greatest collection of Byzantine icons, the exhibition brings together a selection of the works which helped Warhol reinvent portraiture in the second half of the twentieth century. Curated by the distinguished Warhol scholar Paul Moorhouse, the exhibition probes the enduring significance and value of the icon, connecting historic sacred antecedents with Warhol's modern icons: images of the famous created in a celebrity-obsessed secular era. Common to the historic and modern concepts of an icon, the idea of worship is central.
....................english below
a cura di Paul Moorhouse
Il prossimo autunno il museo della Civiltà bizantina e del Cristianesimo di Atene
ospiterà “Warhol/Icon: La Creazione dell’Immagine”, una mostra innovativa che
intende presentare nello stesso contesto alcuni dei ritratti più importanti risalenti
a tutte le fasi della carriera dell’artista; scopo della mostra è altresì suscitare una
riflessione critica sull’ossessione moderna della fama, un concetto che ha sempre
affascinato Warhol e che ha occupato il centro della sua ricerca artistica.
La mostra, che ospita le immagini elaborate da Warhol di personaggi celebri
contemporanei così come ci sono note dai media, stabilisce un dialogo con la
maggiore raccolta mondiale di icone bizantine allo scopo di esplorare l’idea
dell’immagine dal punto di vista del ritratto. La mostra, a cura di Paul Moorhouse,
illustre discepolo di Warhol, investiga il significato diacronico e il valore dell’icona
mediante il confronto tra i sacri precedenti storici e le icone moderne di Warhol:
immagini di personaggi celebri create in un’era secolare ossessionata dall’idea
della fama.
Il tratto che accomuna il concetto storico a quello moderno di icona è la presenza
di un culto. Le opere di Warhol analizzano, esaminano – e impiegano – quei pro-
cedimenti mediante i quali l’identità di una persona reale viene oscurata a poco a
poco dalla rappresentazione patinata e virtuale offertane dai mass-media. Tra le
opere più interessanti della mostra sono inclusi ritratti di Jackie Kennedy, di Mari-
lyn Monroe, di Mao e dello stesso Warhol – figure idealizzate in cui l’“immagine”
trascende l’identità privata, personale dei soggetti raffigurati.
Sullo sfondo delle icone storiche raccolte nel museo della Civiltà bizantina e del
Cristianesimo, le icone moderne di Warhol si presentano come il risultato di una
complessa metamorfosi in cui il reale viene trasformato in un’astrazione elaborata
ma gloriosa.
Il museo della Civiltà bizantina e del Cristianesimo di Atene fu fondato nel 1914. La
collezione comprende opere di arte greca create tra il quarto e il diciannovesimo
secolo oltre alla maggior collezione mondiale di icone bizantine e post-bizantine.
.......................english
curated by Paul Moorhouse
Potnia Thiron and Haunch of Venison are delighted to present a double header of Warhol exhibitions in Athens this autumn. Opening simultaneously, Warhol/Icon: The Creation of Image at the Byzantine and Christian Museum and Warhol: Screen Tests at Potnia Thiron Gallery, will explore Warhol’s obsession with fame through his work as a painter and filmmaker of ‘icons’. The emphasis across both exhibitions will be on the relationship between his Byzantine religious beliefs, Slavic background and devotion to his mystical mother, and his apparently unfettered celebration of an American celebrity culture.
Set against the backdrop of the world’s greatest collection of Byzantine icons, the exhibition of Warhol’s media-derived images of contemporary celebrities explores the idea of the iconic in his portraiture. Curated by the distinguished Warhol scholar Paul Moorhouse, the exhibition probes the enduring significance and value of the icon, connecting historic sacred antecedents with Warhol’s modern icons: images of the famous created in a celebrity-obsessed secular era. Common to the historic and modern concepts of an icon, the idea of worship is a central link.
Set against the backdrop of the world’s greatest collection of Byzantine icons, Warhol/Icon: The Creation of Image brings together a selection of the works which helped Warhol reinvent portraiture in the second half of the twentieth century. Curated by the distinguished Warhol scholar Paul Moorhouse, the exhibition probes the enduring significance and value of the icon, connecting historic sacred antecedents with Warhol’s modern icons: images of the famous created in a celebrity-obsessed secular era. Common to the historic and modern concepts of an icon, the idea of worship is central.
Warhol’s work endorses, dissects – and employs – those processes by which a real person’s identity becomes progressively obscured by their glamorised, iconic representation in the mass-media. Seen in the context of the Byzantine and Christian Museum’s historic icons, Warhol’s modern ‘icons’ are presented as the outcome of a complex metamorphosis in which the real has been transformed into a complex but glorious abstraction. Highlights of the exhibition include a poignant medley of paintings of the bereaving Jackie Kennedy, and several exceptional images of Marilyn Monroe, Mao and Warhol himself. Each of these figures are idealised to the point where their ‘image’ transcends their private, personal identity.
info: Claire Walsh o Amy Drillsma-Milgrom presso Brunswick Group:
T + 44 (0)20 7936 1290
byzantinemuseum@brunswickgroup.com
Image: Andy Warhol, Nine Jackies, 1964
Silkscreen ink on canvas
154.3 x 122.6 cm
The Sonnabend Collection
© 2009 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / DACS, London
Opening Tuesday 6 October, 200-21.30
Byzantine and Christian Museum
Vasilissis Sofia 22, Athens
Open: Tuesday-Sunday: 08.30-15
- 6 January, Shrove Monday, Holy Saturday, Easter Monday, Holy Spirit Day, 28 October: 08.30-21
Full admission: € 4, Reduced admission: € 2