LONDON.- Andy Warhol: The Textiles is the first exhibition dedicated to the commercial textile designs of arguably the most iconic artist of the twentieth century. Presenting over 60 fabric lengths and garments decorated in Warhol’s textile patterns, the exhibition showcases how this work contributed to the artist’s oeuvre and would become coveted by collectors on a global scale.
The Fashion and Textile Museum invites visitors to delve into a new side to Warhol as we know him, and to explore this unknown and heretofore unrecorded world.
A leading figure of the Pop Art movement, Andy Warhol’s swiftly successful career began in commercial and advertising art during the 1950s and early 1960s. At this point in time, Warhol’s output was almost entirely devoted to realising the demands and deadlines of professional clients, such as Glamour magazine where he undertook his first commission. This work had creative limitations due to constraints dictated by paying clients, whereas textile design allowed Warhol to create ‘art for art’s sake.’ Warhol sold these textiles anonymously; they were managed by agents working within New York’s garment district and remained hidden from the mainstream.
Andy Warhol: The Textiles has been co-curated by internationally recognised collectors and design historians, Richard Chamberlain and Geoff Rayner of Target Gallery. Previously,
the Museum collaborated with Richard and Geoff, who served as guest curators of the 2014 exhibition, Artist Textiles: Picasso to Warhol. It was during research for that exhibition where Richard and Geoff began their journey and discovery of Warhol’s seemingly lost textiles. It slowly became evident that textiles had become another string to Warhol’s bow and over 40 designs are now known.
Post-war economic growth and the second industrial revolution led to an increase in consumerism. Everyday objects were a staple of the American textile trade, with prints often used for dresses, skirts, and blouses. Warhol’s fascination with everyday items and artistic relationship with mass production can be seen forming through the lens of this early work. He combines his idiosyncratic drawing style with rhythmic pattern making and slight variations to create unique conversational prints which appealed greatly to those in the garment industry. Visitors will be able to explore his development as a Pop Artist, and elevation of the subject matter through repetition. Dating from c.1955, Textile with Large Butterflies, a key piece from the exhibition, has much in common with the scale, colour choices and sheer impact of Warhol’s later work. The butterfly motif chimed distinctly with Warhol, and it is seen several times as inspiration for other designs featured in the exhibition. The Acrobatic Clowns and Horses border-printed textile demonstrates Warhol’s talent as a textile designer and is a masterpiece of pattern making, with the circus clowns’ kinetic sequence of somersaults making for the perfect repeat pattern. Another prominent design featured in the exhibition is Ice Cream Desserts. Warhol’s sweet tooth is renowned, and he was a frequent of legendary New York bistro/café, Serendipity.
During 1961, Warhol created a homage to the desserts served, delicately depicted in his finest broken blotted line drawing, and vividly coloured with watercolour inks. The Fashion and Textile Museum is excited to showcase these pieces, many of which have never been exhibited, differentiating Andy Warhol: The Textiles from previous Warhol exhibitions to date.
Dennis Nothdruft, Head of Exhibitions, Fashion and Textile Museum said: ‘The Fashion and Textile Museum are thrilled to collaborate with the Target Gallery on the first exhibition devoted entirely to showcasing textile designs by Andy Warhol. Exploring the cross over between art and textiles, we are delighted to exhibit this different and often surprising element of Warhol’s work.’
Geoff Rayner and Richard Chamberlain, Guest Curators from the Target Gallery said: ‘We have been developing the concept of an exhibition and book of textiles by Warhol for over a decade. Whilst working with the Fashion and Textile Museum for the ‘Artist Textiles: Picasso to Warhol’ exhibition in 2014, we discovered Warhol’s roots also in textile design. After years of research, several chance encounters and strokes of luck we are finally very happy and excited to present Andy Warhol: The Textiles.’
The exhibition is accompanied by the book, Warhol: The Textiles, £30, Yale. Authored by Geoff Rayner and Richard Chamberlain.
