Art Essay # 3

Marilyn

Soup Cans

(Sorry for some reason I could not get the pictures to add so I linked them)

There are many different styles of art. Different artists have different ways of creating their artworks. An example of an artist that likes to break the norm and create interesting pieces was Andy Warhol. Warhol was painter, printmaker, and a filmmaker. Also, Warhol was known for leading the world into what is known as “pop art”. He is famous for painting famous American idols and icons such as Elvis Presley, Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe, Coca-Cola, and Campbell Soup Cans. For this essay, I chose two pieces of Warhol’s art, Marilyn Monroe and Campbell’s Soup Cans.

The first piece I am going to talk about is Marilyn. This picture resembles the actress, but not with normal colors. Warhol uses bright yellow as her blonde hair, pinkish/purple for her face, bright blue for her makeup, and ruby red for her lips. Even though Warhol uses different colors, he still is able to make the picture look exactly like her. He also adds shading which is a harsh contrast against the bright colors. Even with Warhol’s unique style, he is still able to capture the classic Marilyn Monroe face. The one where she looks kind of sleepy/drunk and has a sneaky smile. Instead of just a normal photograph, Warhol’s creation looks modern and interesting.

The second piece of artwork I am going to talk about by Warhol is the Campbell Soup Cans. This picture is very unique. First, it automatically displays Warhol’s exclusive design. He takes the original picture, and then duplicates it however many times to create either a set of four pictures, eight pictures, nine pictures, or even thirty-two pictures. Each portrayal is the same size, same brand, same paint surface, and same fame as product. Warhol does this in order to mimic the condition of mass advertising. When he uses this method on celebrities, he does it to say something about the condition of image overload in the media. I thought that this was very interesting because I thought he just did it because the overall effect looked cool and different. In this picture, Warhol chose to use eight different portrayals of the soup cans. One of the portrayals is the can with its original color, and the other seven have a variety of colors. Warhol does not stay within the classic color limits of red, orange, yellow, blue, green and violet. He uses almost bright neon colors in order to give his works a unique and modern feel.

One reason that Warhol’s works of art are so popular is because they have a “cool” feeling, so people purchase them because they want to feel as though they are doing what is “in” and what is considered “hip”. Another reason Warhol’s works are so rare is because he uses the silkscreen method. This involves picking a photograph, blowing it up, transferring it onto the silk, and then rolling the ink. This method created a variety of faults within the works such as uneven inkings and graininess. However, Warhol kept the imperfections to symbolize the reoccurrence of human error. This process was very fast and gave Warhol the ability to mass-produce, thus creating his very own unique style.

Overall, I have always found the works of Andy Warhol to be very interesting. However, it was not until I started to write this essay that I realized that Warhol was a complicated man. Throughout his works like Marilyn and Campbell’s Soup Cans, he expresses his thoughts of image overload and mass advertising. Warhol not only made huge steps in the art world by using the silk-screen, he embraced the world of filmmaking. Throughout this class, I have learned that art is something to be appreciated because it takes a lot of time and talent in order to create something. Warhol grabs the audience’s attention by using American icons and keeps their attention by using bright colors. The combination of these two keep the audience interested and looking for more of his works. Because he has the ability to do this, he is considered a desired and productive artist. Also, art is supposed to make the audience feel something. Warhol accomplishes this by giving his work a “cool” and modern feel. This feeling is different because Warhol’s works are different than the artists of his generations, and different than the ones in our generation. Warhol set the stage for artists and if he were still alive, he would want someone to follow in his footsteps and challenge the concepts of what is considered by society as “normal” art.