The Arts in New York City

In order to make a valuable argument, shouldn’t you know a little about what you’re arguing about? Let’s say you were in a heated debate about sports. In order to make your argument stronger, shouldn’t you know some inside information? Let’s say a Yankee fan and a Met fan were arguing about baseball. In order for the Yankee fan to make a more valid argument, they should know a little bit about baseball.How can you criticize something without knowing anything about what you are criticizing? The answer is you can’t. In order for you to be able to criticize something, you must know a little about what you’re criticizing. That’s why it shouldn’t be viewed as hypocrisy when an artist is an active member of society. An artist plays a very important role of being a social critic. In order for the artist to be a social critic, doesn’t he need to know a little about the people he’s going to be criticizing? As an active member of society the artist can know what elements of society need to be criticized and what elements don’t.

Andy Warhol was an active member in society, as well as a social critic. You may wonder, wouldn’t that make him a hypocrite; how could he criticize the very environment that he was a part of? Well as said before he got to know his community better this way, and was able to criticize society in a more effective way by understanding the society that he was a part of.

If you were to go into the Andy Warhol exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum without knowing anything about Andy Warhol, by the time you were exiting the first part of the exhibit, you could come to the conclusion that Andy Warhol did in fact live the life of a celebrity. The last room of the first part of the exhibit consists of photographs. These photographs are of so many different celebrities. These celebrities were a part of his social circle. If Andy Warhol were to have a facebook, that room would represent what his facebook would be like. The photographs throughout the room would be the ones he would have posted online and the people in the photographs would be his “friends” on facebook. This shows you that Andy Warhol himself was a celebrity as well.

From being so closely connected to celebrity life, Warhol was able to know its pros and cons, and was able to accurately portray its flaws through his artwork. Much of Andy Warhol’s work was focused on simple, everyday things, for example his black and white advertisements; especially his remarkably famous Campbell’s chicken noodle soup can, as well as many other simple everyday things. Here he takes a moment to appreciate the simple things in life. So although he was involved in the extravagance of celebrity life, his paintings reflected the opposite, which was the simplistic view of life, and appreciation of the little things.

Andy Warhol also brings up religion in his artwork. The very last room in the exhibit consists of many religious images, for example the painting of the Last Supper. We also see religious messages appearing in some of his other works of art, for example in many of his pieces where it says “sin no more”. This constant reminder of religion is Warhol’s commentary on society and society’s values.

Andy Warhol’s success in being a social critic was due to the fact that he understood society so well. He was an active member of the society that he criticized. He was able to capture the beauty of simple things in life, while still being able to live such an extravagant lifestyle.

Before viewing the exhibit of Andy Warhol’s work at the Brooklyn Museum, the only knowledge I had of Andy Warhol was of his friendship with Keith Haring. Keith Haring created the sculpture that resides outside of a hospital near my house, a statue that has always been visually appealing to me. When I received the assignment to visit the Brooklyn Museum in order to view a collection of Andy Warhol’s work created during his last decade, I was excited to have the opportunity to learn more about him.

Andy Warhol’s paintings contain vibrant colors embezzled with important themes and messages. He was both an active member of the community as well as a critic of it and this dual role in the community was essential to the success of his paintings and other artistic pieces. One room of the exhibit had walls that were covered with photographs of Andy Warhol and other famous figures including Edward Kennedy and Jimmy Carter. There were also pictures of him with other celebrities. These photographs show Warhol’s active role in the community. Additionally, Warhol founded Interview magazine whose articles were interviews with famous celebrities including Stevie Wonder and Don Johnson.

Andy Warhol also painted a series of black and white advertisements, the most famous of which is the Campbell’s soup can ad. He was an active member of society promoting items that the traditional family would purchase in the supermarket. The Campbell’s soup can ad also happens to be one of Warhol’s most famous pieces of art. When I told someone that I was going to the Brooklyn Museum to see an Andy Warhol exhibit, his response was “Oh yeah, wasn’t he the one with the Campbell’s soup can?” Andy Warhol had an unbelievable artistic talent that enabled him to create such a renowned painting based on a can of soup.

Religion also played an important role in Andy Warhol’s life and artwork. He created a painting that was a recreation of “The Last Supper.”  Moreover, many of his paintings have an outline of Jesus hidden in the painting. Through his paintings, Andy Warhol persuades the public to become more religious. The ubiquitous Jesus figures found in his paintings remind the viewer that God is always watching Andy Warhol’s poster which reads “Repent And Sin No More” directly warns the viewers to be aware of their actions.

I definitely believe it is possible for an artist to be both an active member of the community and a social critic, and I believe Andy Warhol is an example of this. Although it is a bit hypocritical and the artist could be compared to an “undercover cop,” the artist must be involved in the community to fully understand the issues and problems in society. Additionally, if the artist is known to be active in the community, then other members of the community will have more respect for the artist’s paintings and will pay attention to the messages they reveal since the artists are more likely to be looking out for the best interest of the community.

Another reason why it’s important for an artist to be a social critic and an active member of the community is that it makes their artwork more interesting. When I walked into the room full of photographs, I was interested in looking around because of all of the familiar faces I recognized. Even though I wasn’t alive at the time, many of the photos were of important political figures and celebrities, who I had learned about over the years. These photographs gave me a better idea of the time period in which Andy Warhol created his art and yielded more insight into his character.

The artist could and should be an active member of the community and a social critic. Andy Warhol claimed both of these roles and his paintings were proof of this. The Andy Warhol exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum was an incredible collection of Andy Warhol’s work, and I am looking forward to viewing more of his pieces in the future.