? The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / DACS, London 2009
Self-Portrait in Dark Suit and Plaid Shirt
1981
On Tour On tour at UK / BELFAST / THE METROPOLITAN ARTS CENTRE
- Artist Rooms
Although Warhol was unhappy with his appearance throughout his life, self-portraiture was a recurring theme in his oeuvre. Role-playing was a central aspect of many of his self-portraits and his Polaroid camera was an effective means of quickly documenting his changing personae. In this work Warhol appears older, with his sunken cheeks and an expression of knowing. From the 1970s until his death in 1987, many of Warhol?s self-portraits are haunted by his fear of death. This is more obvious in his self-portraits with skulls, but here, with his hollow cheeks emphasised by the strong shadow against the wall, his face itself looks distinctly skull-like.
