American prints from pop art to today on display from 4th November.
Following the major 2017 British Museum exhibition The American Dream: pop to present, Warhol to Walker: American Prints from pop art to today, opens at Worcester Art Gallery & Museum on 4th November. This exhibition explores great American printmaking from Pop Art to today including work by Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg and Jim Dine.
A revolutionary and enduring change in the production, marketing and consumption of prints took place in the 1960s. Inspired by the monumental, bold and eye-catching imagery of post-war America, a young generation of artists took to printmaking with enthusiasm, putting it on an equal footing with painting and sculpture, matching their size, colour and impact. The growth of an affluent middle class in urban America also opened a booming market for prints that was seized upon by enterprising publishers, print workshops and artists.
Focussing on modern and contemporary American printmaking, this exhibition features nine key works from the British Museum’s print collection. The exhibition opens with the bold image making of three of the greatest printmakers from the Pop period: Warhol, Johns and Rauschenberg, whose work took varied inspiration from the mass media consumer society of 1960s America. The progress and creativity of printmaking through some of the most dynamic and turbulent years in US history is followed right to the present day, with prints by a relatively young African-American artist Kara Walker, and the recent work of one of the giants of the field, Jim Dine.
Alongside the prints on loan from the British Museum, the exhibition will also feature works from the Worcester City Collection including pieces by Eduardo Paolozzi, Howard Hodgkin and Richard Hamilton. These vibrant treasures of the city’s collection highlight how artists have pushed the boundaries of print-making and explore subjects as diverse as the Vietnam War, Bing Crosby, gin, picnics and the universe. This exhibition is a unique opportunity to view these works alongside great prints on loan from the British Museum in Worcester Art Gallery & Museum.
Emalee Beddoes-Davis, Museums Worcestershire Curator says: “We are pleased to be working with the British Museum to bring these internationally renowned artworks to Worcester. It also gives us the opportunity to highlight the quality of work within our own collections too.”
Admission to Warhol to Walker: American prints from pop art to today is free and the Art Gallery & Museum is open Monday–Saturday 10.30am–4.30pm. For more information contact the Art Gallery and Museum on 01905 25371, visit www.museumsworcestershire.org.uk or follow @worcestermuseum