KHALED AL KHAWALDEH (DUBAI)
Throughout the 1960’s and 70’s, the prolific American artist and filmmaker Andy Warhol revolutionised the pop art world with his colourful renditions of everyday consumer products and celebrities.
Warhol’s works, including the ever-iconic Campbells soup cans, profiles of Mohammad Ali and Marilyn Monroe have for the first time made a debut in the UAE at the Foundry in Dubai, in an exhibition titled Andy Warhol, The Glam Factory that Youness Megherbi, Cultural Expert and part of the team that put the exhibition together says will let art lovers see an artist who reflected much of them.
“In many ways, Andy Worhol is what people envision of Dubai, he is a real rags to riches story story just like the UAE,” Meghrebi told Aletihad on a tour of the exhibit.
“People will definitely discover an artist that looks like them. He was striving to get a better future, trying to get his place in society, just like the people here in the UAE.”
Blurring the lines between high and low culture, Warhol’s innovative approach and his exploration of fame, identity, and media continue to influence artists and pop culture today.
Curated by Nada Ghandour, the exhibit takes art lovers on a tour through the artist’s creative mind and journey of one of the 20th century’s most disruptive creators.
The exhibition includes works that explore his fascinations with celebrity, mass consumerism, capitalism, and even communist ideologies and figures of the time.
Meghrebi says that Warhol was proud to create art that was accessible, and relatable to all, disrupting the often-elitist spaces at the top of the art world.
He believes the exhibiting of his artworks is a testament to the evolving art scene in the UAE and a chance for inspiration for the growing number of budding artists in the region.
“The fact that such outstanding women, like Nada, are organising such an exhibition really shows how the United Arab Emirates wants to be a standing figure in promoting art,” he said.
“I think it echoes to the different cultural policies here in the region, not only the United Arab Emirates, but in other Gulf countries too. So that’s what it’s all about. It’s just following the different synergies that occur in the region.”
The exhibition is running until the end of the month. Maghrebi says it is a chance to fully indulge in one of the great controversial artists of our time.
“At the end of the day, we can think many things about this man. He has left behind him a huge legacy. I think that the reflexivity, notably that he proposes concerning fame and death, he didn’t steal it from anyone. And that’s maybe the most gripping part of his career,” he said.