Andy Warhol EYE   1952

Warhol (born Andrew Warhola) grew up in Pittsburgh, the son of working-class Slovakian immigrants. After studying pictorial design at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, he moved to New York and produced hundreds of drawings, most of them commercial projects for the publishing and fashion industries. His clients included Vanity Fair, Mademoiselle, and Bergdorf Goodman. Warhol first garnered widespread recognition for a 1949 illustration commissioned by Glamour magazine for the article "Success Is a Job in New York," the title of which embodied his attitude toward artmaking as well as his infatuation with fame and fashion. As the artist once said, "Business Art is a much better thing to be making than Art Art." Many of his trademark colorful and whimsical drawings of people, animals, insects, shoes, and accessories--used as book illustrations, stationery, and album covers--are on view in the exhibition.

Andy Warhol HAPPY BUG DAY   1954

The artist's often simple and mechanical way of working can be seen in the drawings made with the help of his mother, who was responsible for adding the handwritten text as well as the calligraphic "Andy Warhol" signature. Also on view in the exhibition are intimate portrait studies of friends (often of just hands and feet), many with the addition of gold leaf to enhance the seductive qualities of the image. His first one-man show in 1952, Fifteen drawings based on the writings of Truman Capote at the Hugo Gallery, included many of these sketchbook drawings of young men, which appear as a precursor to his later portraits of celebrities.

The drawings of the early 1960s have an experimental and exploratory feel in which the artist combined elements of photography, collage, written instructions of working studies, and on occasion, pencil and crayon or watercolor. When seen together, the works show a shift in Warhol's creative process from drawing from life to appropriating existing images or fragments of consumer culture such as soup cans, money, newspapers, political figures, and film stars.

Warhol's drawings from 1968 (the year he was shot) until 1987 reveal his fascination with the vanity that fame inspires and play with issues of health, disfigurement, and death. During this period his diaries recount the beauty and glamour of his friends and acquaintances (such as Truman Capote, Liz Taylor, and Bianca Jagger) and divulge, or speculate on, their various cosmetic surgeries. Exhibition curator Mark Francis writes, "For more than 30 years Andy Warhol created a coherent, consistent, and prolific body of drawings in which his deepest fears and his ideals of beauty were plainly and simply outlined."

Andy Warhol CAT   1954

SECOND SUNDAY TOUR: HAND OF ANDY
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2 PM
Learn about Warhol's lifelong dedication to drawing. Meet in the lobby.

GALLERY TALK
ANDY WARHOL: WALKING THE CROOKED LINE
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7, 6:30 PM
Thomas Sokolowski, Director of the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, discusses Warhol's ascent to "superstar" status and reveals some surprising truths about one of the most popular artists of this century.

GALLERY TALK
THE DIFFICULTY OF DIFFERENCE: WARHOL'S COMPLEX IDENTITY IN A MASS CULTURE
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21, 6:30 PM
Scott Sherer, doctoral candidate in Comparative Studies in Discourse and Society at the University of Minnesota, talks about Warhol's early work and its relationship to gay culture in New York City in the 1950s.

ART LAB FOR ADULTS
BACK TO THE BASICS: DRAWING & ILLUSTRATION
THURSDAYS, OCTOBER 14 AND 21, 6:30-9:30 PM
Back to the Basics is a series of ongoing, hands-on adult workshops that introduce participants to basic ideas and skills behind art-making practices.

SUPERSTARS FROM THE SHOPS
The Walker Art Center Shops are offering a unique assortment of cards, books, gifts, clothing, and housewares bearing Warhol's colorful designs. Members save 10% on purchases. An exclusive T-shirt featuring Warhol's drawing Eye is available only in the Shops: $20 ($18 Walker members).


The fully illustrated 320-page Warhol catalogue with texts by exhibition co-curators Mark Francis and Dieter Koepplin is now available. Hardcover: $100 ($90 Walker members).

COMPLEAT SCHOLAR
ANDY WARHOL: HIS LIFE & WORK
THURSDAYS, SEPTEMBER 16, 23, AND 30, 6-8 PM
Examine Warhol's drawings and paintings in a three-evening class offered in conjunction with the exhibition.

OPENING-DAY TOUR
SUNDAY, AUGUST 8, 3 PM
Join exhibition curator Mark Francis on a tour through the galleries. Learn more about Warhol's drawings and why this medium was of such interest to the artist throughout his life.

WALKER AFTER HOURS: "ART & SOUL"
FRIDAY, AUGUST 13, 5:30-9 PM
An unusual evening celebrating the Walker's latest exhibition.

PUBLIC TOUR
SUNDAY, AUGUST 22, 2 PM
Take an in-depth look at the new exhibition.

FILM SERIES: WARHOL X 2
AUGUST 14 AND 20, 7 PM
In conjunction with the exhibition, the Walker screens three of Warhol's most ambitious works on film.

ALL IMAGES OF WORKS BY ANDY WARHOL © 1999 THE ANDY WARHOL FOUNDATION; COURTESY THE ANDY WARHOL MUSEUM, PITTSBURGH

ANDY WARHOL DRAWINGS, 1942-1987 WAS ORGANIZED BY THE ANDY WARHOL MUSEUM, PITTSBURGH, AND THE KUNSTMUSEUM BASEL, SWITZERLAND. THE MINNEAPOLIS PRESENTATION OF THE EXHIBITION IS MADE POSSIBLE BY GENEROUS SUPPORT FROM DAYTON'S PROJECT IMAGINE.