Dia: Beacon

Andy Warhol was born in 1928 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania and developed St. Vitus’ dance when he was young and so he became an outcast among his peers. He believes, however, that this period in his young life was essential to his growth as an artist. He studied at Carnegie Mellon University (then Carnegie Institute of Technology) and later move to New York City to pursue a career. Warhol was an important figure in the Pop Art movement. He employed silk-screening techniques to mass produce images for his art. The simplicity and repetition of his works has always interested me.

During my visit to the Dia: Beacon I noticed there was a room devoted to Andy Warhol and was not surprised to find that the work displayed, entitled “Shadows” (1978), involved simple shapes and much repetition. It also comes as no surprise that I enjoyed this piece very much. The many different bright colors used in the backgrounds of each canvas in contrast to the black shadow which appeared the same as one of two shapes on every canvas provided a very appealing aesthetic quality. I had an opportunity to sit in the room in which Warhol’s work was exhibited and just appreciate the work around me and I found it to be overall a very enjoyable experience.