McClain Gallery is pleased to announce the upcoming exhibition of works by legendary Pop master and cultural icon, Andy Warhol. Titled, "Vanishing Animals", this exhibition is comprised of unique works created by Warhol in 1986 for the book by the same name. In "Vanishing Animals", Warhol illustrates 16 different animals in danger of extinction.
This body of work expresses both an important creative aside for Warhol and Warhol's role as cultural critic. His concern for the environment and love of animals was the impetus for this project.
Collage for Warhol was a creative departure from his usual "absence of the hand of the artist" which typified much of his work. Each of the collage works were composed and assembled by Warhol personally. Torn and overlayed colored blocks of paper became the background and primary esthetic composition on which images of animals were then screen-printed. These 1986 collage works recall both the hand-drawn and illustrative quality of his much earlier works of the 1950's.
In conjunction with the recent release of this work by the Warhol estate, this show marks the first comprehensive gallery exhibition of this body of work. An illustrated catalog accompanies the exhibition.
Andy Warhol's influence and significance as an artist and cultural barometer is unequaled in the 20th century. Regarded by many as the most important artist of the last half of the century, Warhol presaged the media saturated and "branded" identity that defines contemporary civilization.