Pen pals: Andy Warhol's personal letters find a new lease of life as art
Blurring the lines between art and commerce, Andy Warhol painted a portrait of America by celebrating iconic fixtures of American life. This film by Cadillac offers a rare glimpse into Warhol’s world..
It’s safe to say that Andy Warhol’s 15 minutes won’t expire any time soon. The latest evidence of the late artist’s omnipotence is a traveling exhibition titled 'Letters to Andy Warhol', centred on letters pulled from the artist’s extensive archive.
For the project, Cadillac and The Andy Warhol Museum commissioned an international group of creatives to produce new work inspired by Warhol. Reflecting the polymath artist’s prowess, the exhibition spans several mediums, from a star-packed short film by Chiara Clemente to a song composed by Warhol family friend Sean Lennon.
One of the standout works, is a large than life-sized children’s book inspired by a rejection letter Warhol received from MoMA. Referencing the artist’s early career as a fashion illustrator, the work was created by shoe designer Brian Atwood and Wallpaper* Italy editor-at-large JJ Martin. 'The whole idea was around creative redemption,' Martin explained. 'Even the most successful of us have all had terrible moments of rejection, of feeling stupid, unworthy and undesired.'
Turns out MoMA needed Warhol after all and the artist’s resilience – and ability to spin gold from the mundane – remains more prescient than ever. 'Warhol was the ultimate rebel and envelope pusher,' says Martin. 'I think he resounds so well with creative types because he was such a champion of creators and artists. He understood their needs. Warhol is still so modern today. Can you imagine what he would have done on social media?'
Following its New York showing at Cadillac House, the exhibition will travel to Los Angeles in mid-January for display at the 101/Exhibit Gallery and then to Miami in early February before embarking on a global tour through early 2018.
INFORMATION
’Letters to Andy Warhol’ is on view at Cadillac House until 26 December. For more information, visit the Cadillac website and the Andy Warhol Museum website
ADDRESS
Cadillac House
330 Hudson St
New York, NY 10013
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
Bringing the audience in: why artists are building their homes on stage
From Sabrina Carpenter to Rex Orange County, artists are reimagining their stage sets as extensions of their own homes. Lisa Wright meets set designers Stufish to find out why
By Lisa Wright Published
-
Turkish Airlines reveals its flowy new Crystal Business Class cabins
Luxury is in the air as Turkish Airlines pulls back the curtain on its anticipated new Crystal Business Class cabins
By Lauren Ho Published
-
Soviet brutalist architecture: beyond the genre's striking image
Soviet brutalist architecture offers eye-catching imagery; we delve into the genre’s daring concepts and look beyond its buildings’ photogenic richness
By Edwin Heathcote Published
-
Brutalism in film: the beautiful house that forms the backdrop to The Room Next Door
The Room Next Door's production designer discusses mood-boarding and scene-setting for a moving film about friendship, fragility and the final curtain
By Anne Soward Published
-
'There’s an anxiety under all of it': Violet Dennison in New York
Violet Dennison debuts abstract paintings with new show 'Damaged Self' at Tara Downs Gallery
By Mary Cleary Published
-
‘Gas Tank City’, a new monograph by Andrew Holmes, is a photorealist eye on the American West
‘Gas Tank City’ chronicles the artist’s journey across truck-stop America, creating meticulous drawings of fleeting moments
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Mark Armijo McKnight’s bodily landscapes capture the tactile serenity of the American West
The artist’s new exhibition at the Whitney Museum, which is organised by the museum curator Drew Sawyer, offers a succinct window into his contemplative suggestion of queering a landscape
By Osman Can Yerebakan Published
-
Dark, glamorous and hedonistic: a photography book captures New York in the 1990s
New York: High Life, Low Life, by Dafydd Jones, goes behind the scenes of New York society
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Derrick Alexis Coard’s portraits are a sensitive, positive testimony to Black men
The late artist Derrick Alexis Coard’s retrospective ‘I Am That I Am’, at New York’s Salon 94, honours his ‘symbolic expression for possible change for the African-American male community’
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Intimacy, violence and the uncanny: Joanna Piotrowska in Philadelphia
Artist and photographer Joanna Piotrowska stages surreal scenes at the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania
By Hannah Silver Published
-
First look: Sphere’s new exterior artwork draws on a need for human connection
Wallpaper* talks to Tom Hingston about his latest large-scale project – designing for the Exosphere
By Charlotte Gunn Published