This monumental artwork of 102 large format, silkscreened panels reflects some of Warhol’s explorations with abstraction through his signature palette of bright and cheerful hues, which characterised a large part of his work. The work formalised earlier explorations with abstraction, seen the previous year in the Oxidation, Rorschach, and Camouflage paintings. The Shadows series was conceived as one painting in multiple parts, the final number of canvases determined by the dimensions of an exhibition space.
Seven or eight different screens were used to create Shadows, as evidenced in the slight shifts in scales of dark areas as well as the arbitrary presence of spots of light. The ‘shadows’ alternate between positive and negative as they march along the walls of the gallery. Far from replicas, each shadow corresponds to a form that reveals its space with precision and self-awareness, directing the spectator’s gaze to light, the central subject of the series. By focusing on the shadow to devise light as sparks of colour, Warhol returns to the quintessential problem of art: perception.
Until October 2nd, 2016 at The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Spain
www.guggenheim.org
Andy Warhol Shadows (1977-78)
