An exhibition featuring the late pop artist Andy Warhol is happening at Mohamed Sultan Road. I had marked down the dates on my calendar the moment I heard that it is coming to Singapore. Yes, that’s how excited I was!

A is for Andy: An Andy Warhol Exhibition

Event: A is for Andy
Date: November 17-18, 2007
Time: 10am – 10pm
Venue: 72-13 Mohamed Sultan Road

Free admission

Warhol is one of the pioneers of pop art, a phenomenon that emerged in the 1950s. Pop art is a form of art that employs imagery from everyday life, such as consumer products and famous people. Titled “A is for Andy“, this exhibition features 116 of Warhol’s original paintings, worth US$15 million!

For those of you who may not be familiar with Warhol, here are some examples of his more known pieces.

Marilyn Monroe silkscreen painting, by Andy Warhol

His famous silkscreen painting series of Marilyn Monroe, the epitome of beauty, was done 5 years after her untimely death. Each of the prints has been called “an icon of an icon created by an icon”. This is also my personal favourite from Warhol.

Campbell's Soup I silkscreen painting, by Andy Warhol

Of course, who can forget his series of 32 Campbell’s soup cans? Each painting in the series features a unique flavour of Campbell’s soup. Why Campbell’s soup? Because Warhol had it for lunch everyday for twenty years!

Mao Zedong silkscreen painting, by Andy Warhol

The exhibition has been open for private viewing for a week. One of the first paintings to be sold is this series of 10 paintings of the late Chinese leader Mao Zedong in different colours.


The Factory, Andy Warhol's studio

The Factory was the studio where Warhol did his silkscreens and hanged out with friends.

This replica of The Factory also happens to be one of the very few things I could photograph at the exhibition. Why? Because there is a “no photography” policy. To prevent copyright infringement, it seems (or else they would have stated “no flash photography”). They have security guards stationed at every corner to make sure the rule isn’t violated.

I find this extremely ironic. Warhol himself must have violated several copyrights and trademarks to create the amazing works that he did, from reproducing photographs of famous people to drawing trademarked characters such as Mickey Mouse and superman. Subjecting admirers to the very rule that had been tossed out the window to create the art in the first place is a pretty damn ridiculous move of the exhibitor.

But I digress.

The exhibition is happening for two days at the 72-13 (Theatreworks) art gallery. Be sure to catch it while you can. Have a cold Belgian beer next door while you’re at it :)

Interesting trivia: Do you know where the expression “15 minutes of fame” came from?

In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.

Warhol famously said this in 1968. It was then paraphrased into the widely-used expression. There you go!