With London currently burning with Warhol fever, Gagosian Gallery are confirming their inside track with Andy’s estate by presenting this formidable line-up of Warhol’s late black and white silkscreens, which have never been seen all together before. When asked how he made his selections from the welter of newspaper and magazine imagery that he pored over on a daily basis, Warhol simply declared “I picked the ones I like”. But whether he was depicting hamburgers, Russian missile bases, Jesus Christ nightlights or human body parts, in this return to the advertising subject-matter of his early career, Warhol showed that he had lost none of his unerring instinct for zeroing-in on an famous image. When shown alongside much of the original source material borrowed from the estate, these stunning paintings (until 16 March) also re-emphasise the King of Pop’s designer genius for cropping and editing his images for maximum impact.
Originally appeared in The Art Newspaper as 'Andy Warhol: B & W ads and illustrations 1984-86'