Hanging out with a Pop Art icon at Lakeside

“He completely changed what art was thought of being.” So says Ashley Gallant about the subject of Lakeside Arts’ latest exhibition. Andy Warhol arguably led the Pop Art movement between the 1950s and 1970s, alongside the likes of Roy Lichenstein and Richard Hamilton.

“They were producing artwork about popular culture, commerce, capitalism, fame –- all ideas that were seen as lowbrow and not worthy of being thought of as fine art.

“Warhol really changed perceptions. He spoke about celebrity, and he also obsessively archived himself and the people around him. In many ways, he was ahead of his time in playing out themes which are happening today around social media, capitalism and branding.”

The exhibition gives an overview of Warhol’s whole career, from his early work as a student through to some of his very last in the year before his death. “It's important because it shows the breadth of his practice. It's really unusual to have so many works in one exhibition that show an artist in such depth.”

One Night with Marilyn

Many of us will be familiar with Warhol’s iconic Campbell’s Soup Cans, but out of the many works on display in the exhibition, which should visitors pay special attention to? “I think the Marilyns are the most famous and definitely the most recognisable. There are not many artists in the world who've had the way that they make work turned into an iPhone app!

“For me, the most interesting are some of the quieter works. We’re really lucky to have some Polaroid self-portraits in the show. Obviously he made all the works, but the Polaroids in particular seem close to him, because he sat right in front of that camera and that light was captured on that substrate. So they are the ones I find most personally moving.”

A big challenge for the team is how to decide which works to exhibit from such a vast collection. According to the Andy Warhol Foundation, he produced roughly 9,000 paintings and sculptures, nearly 12,000 drawings and 19,000 prints!

“The collection of Warhols comes from ARTIST ROOMS, which is a national collection, cared for between Tate and the National Gallery of Scotland. They actually have around twice as many Warhols as are on display here.

Not making an exhibition of yourself

One of the barriers to enjoying art for many, can be the feeling of not knowing how to appreciate or understand what you are looking at. The good news at Lakeside is that Ashley wants us to disregard all the usual norms. “Everything I try to do as a curator is to get away from this idea that you should know about art before you come to a gallery. We want you to learn about and enjoy the art, but to take away from it whatever you feel.

“So come along, read the labels – we spend a lot of time discussing labels to ensure they help the viewer understand the work – but have your own opinion about them! Not everyone likes everything, but seeing a lot of art, and making your mind up about what you like and what you think is interesting, is just as important as thinking that you know about it.”

A student of art

Hosting an exhibition of this standing on University Park is a huge coup, both in terms of eyes on campus, but also for what it means to our students – something which resonates with Ashley’s own time at university. “I couldn't travel when I was younger, so it was my university gallery that I visited to access art. It fashioned my belief to try and enable access to the best artists in the world where we are, bringing them to the local population.

“We've had students studying History of Art down during the install, seeing how we do it, which is a big learning experience for them and feeds into employability. But I’m also a big advocate of as many different courses as possible coming to use the space. The themes Andy Warhol worked with covered so many theoretical disciplines and how images function in the world. I'd love this to become a space for teaching, from Law to Science, all of these courses coming together and seeing how they can use the art gallery to teach students about the world around us.”