Andy Warhol (American, 1928–1987), born Andrew Warhola in Pittsburgh, PA, was an iconic and versatile Pop artist. After studying design at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, Warhol moved to New York City in 1949 to pursue a career as a commercial artist. Though successful, Warhol wanted to be an independent painter, and in the early 1960s began to create paintings based on advertisement imagery. Shocking in its embrace of “low art” and its detachment from emotion, his early work quickly brought him fame, as he produced the now infamous series of Campbell’s Soup Cans, Disasters, Electric Chairs, and celebrity portraits (Marilyn Monroe, Jackie Kennedy, and Elvis Presley were among his subjects), with commercial techniques such as screen printing and stenciling. As his fame grew, Warhol built a studio called The Factory on 47th street in New York City, and collected a group of eccentrics he called the “Superstars”, with whom he created a number of experimental films, such as Sleep, Chelsea Girls, and Empire, which were often banned by the police for their vulgarity. In 1968, Valerie Solanas, a former member of Warhol’s entourage, attempted to kill the artist and others outside of The Factory. Narrowly surviving, Warhol withdrew from his bohemian circle and occupied himself in the 1970s creating celebrity portraits, which brought him considerable earnings, but weakened his critical approval. With Gerard Malanga, Warhol also founded Interview magazine, which is still in print today. In the 1980s, however, Warhol’s work was revitalized by collaborations with younger artists, such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Francesco Clemente, and Keith Haring, and he produced renowned series of paintings such as The Last Supper. Warhol died in 1987 due to complications following an operation. As per his desire, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts was established after his death.Based on the work of Andy Warhol you will create a silkscreened set of prints. Using black and three colors you will create variations on your original image. http://www.artnet.com/artists/andy-warhol/
Participate in a group photo shoot choosing a portrait – or double portrait to use for this project. Your image will be edited by your Instructor in PhotoShop providing you a high contrast BW image of the original photograph printed on to clear polystyrene as well as white paper.
Refer to the ink colors available and brainstorm where you will ant color. Use colored pencils to think through the various options. A total of two colors +black are to be used. Each quadrant is to have each color. This breaks up the color and moves the viewers eye around the image. Using black sharpie and black paper create the “positive” for your additional two colors.
Burning Photo silkscreens. Each person will need to work in a team to burn and clean their screens. Participate in the class demonstration.
Prepare your screens evenly with emulsion and dry screen overnight in dry room.
Using station provided in studio burn each screen for 15″. Be sure registration marks are in place. Wash out immediately. Let dry overnight.
Tape front and back with red silkscreen tape.
Screen prints
