Yellow Moonwalk
Artist: Andy Warhol
Size: 38 x 38
Date: 1987
Medium: color screen print
Location: Brigham Young University Museum of Art
This image is discernibly a cartooned reproduction
of the iconic photograph of the first time man walked on
the moon. The image itself symbolizes the discovery of new territory but this coupled
with the use of stark yellows and reds against a background of drab blues and greys
suggests a breaking away from tradition altogether and a rise against authority.
It is commonplace for Warhol to take a famous event or person and create art that
becomes incorporated into popular culture. This particular image became affiliated with
the television channel MTV. MTV stands for music television and was one of the popular
television stations for teenagers of the nineteen-eighties. MTV featured popular music
and artists of the times and created what has thrived into a booming industry that creates
a yearning and a craving for fame among its viewers. The media is a powerful thing and
Warhol understood this. The use of yellow and the blurring of detail in this reproduction
give the image a more laid back, contemporary feel. Warhol’s images always seemed to
be minimalist in nature, in that no more detail than was necessary was incorporated. This
minimalist technique combined with the use of vivid colors a creates a field of
interpretation
The messages that many of Warhol’s images instill in his viewers are made even
more apparent when examining his life. He emerged from the poverty and obscurity of an
Eastern European immigrant family in Pittsburgh, to become an enigmatic lure for
bohemian New York, and to ultimately find a place in the circles of High Society. In a
sense he achieved the American dream in that he rose above where he started from, but
the question is was this his goal?
His eccentric behaviors and revolutionary ideals have kick started the pop culture
movement and are still as well renowned today as they were when they were created.
This fact suggests that the world, especially America, has come to celebrate those that are
different especially those that have unique ideals and viewpoints. Through Warhol’s art
viewers have the opportunity to get a glimpse into what must have been a jumbled and
somewhat sadistic mind. Through commercial illustration, Warhol was able to influence
popular tastes. This goes to show what a powerful affect the media can have on the world
and how someone’s unique tastes and ideas can be used to manipulate society and even
become common place to the point where they almost don’t seem eccentric anymore.
Rebel Without a Cause
Artist: Andy Warhol
Size: 38 x 38 inches
Date: 1985
Medium: Screen-print
Location: Brigham Young University Museum of Art
Andy Warhol’s screen print entitled Rebel
Without a Cause is a contemporary work commended for
its bright colors iconic subject. The subject of the work
of art is the famous James Dean from the film Rebel
Without a Cause. The film was made in 1955 and stars the famous movie star of the
times, James Dean, who plays a rebellious teenager who finds himself going to a new
school and fighting with parents that “don’t understand.” The film primarily deals with
the struggle between generations and the evolution of American society as a whole.
Warhol probably selected James Dean to be the subject of one of his pieces because he
often chose prominent pop culture figures for his work and used them to get across a
message or idea. He brought societal themes and pop culture to the art worlds attention.
The Japanese text to the left reads: “Do we still have the fight in us?” The text
coupled with the graphic of James Dean instills a powerful message; a message of
rebellion and change. Warhol was renowned for his eccentric and progressive techniques.
The question “Do we still have the fight in us,” addresses society as a whole. Warhol’s
intent was to invoke profound thought through this question. This artwork seems to be a
commentary on the state of the American nation at the time it was generated. America, in
1985, was a place where Billionaires could be made.
Becoming rich in seemed to be the main priority of most Americans of that time,
even more so than in previous and future decades. This strong desire for wealth, brought
upon by the advanced wealth and rise to power of many American people (Donald Trump
being a prime example), brought the failure of financial crisis down even harder on
people. This fight that many people were facing simply to stay afloat may have been the
fight that Warhol was addressing. Many people were tired and suicide rates reached one
of there highest point in America during the late 1980’s, which goes to show that many of
the people didn’t not have the fight in them anymore. It is interesting that Warhol uses
James Dean to exemplify this attitude of survival of the fittest because he dies at the
young age of 26 in a car crash, which is ironic because in film he plays characters that are
tough and seemingly invincible.