Andy Warhol

Are you Different?

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About this artwork

During the mid 1980s Warhol returned to the newspaper adverts that had informed his paintings of the early 1960s. He created a group of works called ‘Ad’s and Illustrations’ that differed from his photographic screenprints and highly stylised images of celebrities. They are mostly black and white and were created by tracing the original adverts by hand, which creates a looser, graphic quality. During the 1980s the U.S.A. was still in the depths of the Cold War. Within this context three themes emerge in these paintings: war, death and religion. This work is clearly spiritual, with light radiating from a star on the figure’s forehead and its soul-searching question. It also suggests Warhol’s personal insecurities about his appearance and enormous desire to ‘fit in’.

Updated before 2020

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  • artist:
    Andy Warhol (1928 - 1987) American
  • title:
    Are you Different?
  • date created:
    1985 - 1986
  • materials:
    Acrylic paint and silkscreen on 2 canvases
  • measurements:
    Two canvases, each: 51.00 x 41.00 x 2.00 cm
  • object type:
  • credit line:
    ARTIST ROOMS National Galleries of Scotland and Tate. Acquired jointly through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and Art Fund, 2008
  • accession number:
    AR00236
  • gallery:
This artwork is part of Artist Rooms
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Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol