The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 76, No. 10, Ed. 1 Friday, November 11, 1988 Page: 11 of 16
sixteen pages : ill. ; page 19 x 15 in.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
THE RICE THRESHER FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11. 1988 11
Menil Collection hosts Warhol's Disasters
BY JOHN MONTAG
A,
Lndy Warhol's extremely
disturbing Death and Disasters
is currently at the Menil
Collection. Covering a wide
variety of death, the works use
silkscreens of greatly enlarged
photos taken from newspapers
to depict car wrecks, suicides,
riots and assassinations.
Unlike Warhol's other
silkscreens, where various
colors were intentionally printed
slightly off-register, giving the
works a certain painterliness,
most works in Death arid
Disasters are colored in a single
hue, making any imperfections
look more like a mechanical
accident than an artistic
decision. So the question
arises, "Is this stuff really art?"
Not being any kind of art
historian, I couldn't convince
diddly of the artistic merit of
Warhol's works but the exhibit is
fairly important, so maybe a
brief look at the basis of Pop Art
would be worthwhile.
Sestaocant^cr
y
Put)
wee*
^107#foopt)iS6ouHf ^1 S-M
\j\l V 'Mobama
HAIR SALON
hair cutting for men and women
perms color make up
2437 1^2 Univet sity Blvd
In the Village
Perhaps more than anything,
Pop Art was a backlash against
the Abstract Expressionist
movement that dominated the
1950's. The likes of Pollock,
Rothko and Kline had filled
enough huge canvases with
drips and fields and calligraphy
to move the center of the art
world from Paris to New York.
This allowed people to travel
shorter distances to stand
before works and ask, "Is this
stuff really art?"
Although originally an English
movement, the Pop Art
movement grew rapidly in the
United States, building on the
work of Robert Rauschenberg
and Jasper Johns whose works
were so unabstract as to
include objects from the real
world, such as real goats (real
dead goats, at least). Pop
painting depicted common
objects, returning to a
naturalism forsaken by the
Abstract Expressionists as
distracting in an attempt to
restore freshness to art and
make it accessible to the
common people.
The crisp, clean style of
depiction adopted by the Pop
artists was a logical extension
of using images culled from
popular sources. Mimmicking ad
layouts, they recall the pristine
images of the Immaculates of
the early 20th century. This
manner of depiction tended to
elevate the status of the
subject; thus, the content of the
work became something
different from the subject. The
idealization of the common-
place, the glorification of the
American dream, the implied
comment on commercialism
gave Pop Art a distinct
conceptual bent. This meant
that you couldn't just ask if this
stuff was really art—you had to
think about it.
Warhol's Death and Disasters
series is probably the most
conceptually oriented of Pop
works, depicting the American
dream transformed into a
nightmare. The tools developed
in the postwar era are shown in
a new light, turning on their
makers. The mangled bodies,
poisoned fish, atomic bombs
and assassinations all seriously
question the extent of our
progress.
The images are vivid, the
finality of death unquestionably
apparent, yet Warhol's use of
light tints for the colors and his
technique of repeating the
image several times on the
canvas serve to remove the
viewer from the impact of the
scene. We stand stunned by
realism—the gruesomeness of
the car wrecks, the implications
of the electric chair—but the
presentation is so overpowering
we become numb.
No brush painting could
possibly have the impact that
these canvases have. These are
incredibly powerful works of art.
Yes, this stuff is really art. It is
incredibly hideous and I
wouldn't recommend it to my
mother or my dog, but it is an
amazing exhibit nevertheless.
Players produce Earnest
The Rice Players present The Importance of Being Earnest tonight and tomorrow
in Hamman Hall. The show starts at 8 p.m. and will continue through next week.
How to make a hit
A****•
^ ^ <<
&
Q *
O O
wm
The American Express® Card is a hit virtually
anywhere you shop, from Los Angeles to
London. Whether you're buying books, baseball
tickets or brunch. So during college and after,
it's the perfect way to pay for just about
everything you'll want.
How to get
the Card now.
College is the first
sign of success. And
because we believe in your
potential, we've made it easier for
students of this school to get the
American Express Card right
now-even without a job or a
credit history. So whether you're an
underclassman, senior or
grad student, look into
our automatic approval
offers. For details pick up an
application on campus. Or call
1-800-TH E-CARI) and ask for a
student application
The American Express Card.
Don't Leave School Without It."
I9S8 American F.xpress Travel Related Sen ices Compain Inc
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
McGarrity, Patrick & Sendek, Joel. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 76, No. 10, Ed. 1 Friday, November 11, 1988, newspaper, November 11, 1988; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245706/m1/11/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.