Jan. 5, 2021
‘Andy Warhol. Love, Sex, and Desire. Drawings 1950–1962’ features over 300 drawings rendered primarily with ink on paper, portraying young men, with a focus on their form, erotic qualities and sexuality. The drawings are adorned with black hearts, flowers and other whimsical embellishments, illustrating a multitude of colourful characters. The sense of ironic detachment—a Warhol trademark—paired with the simultaneous voyeurism of the sketches reveals much about this otherwise enigmatic artist.
Warhol’s drawings were created long before his ascension to fame as the star of Pop Art, and were exhibited at the Bodley Gallery on New York’s Upper East Side in 1956. His goal was to publish the drawings as a monograph—an aim never realized in his life-time—and he saw this exhibition as his chance to break into the New York art world, sadly underestimating the rampant homophobia of the time.
Chosen by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, this selection of drawings by the artist brings his project to fruition in a comprehensive book. The book is edited and features an introduction by the Foundation’s Michael Dayton Hermann, and essays by Warhol biographer Blake Gopnik and art critic Drew Zeiba. The book also includes poems by James Baldwin, Thom Gunn, Harold Norse, Essex Hemphill and Allen Ginsberg, creating moments of introspection and expanding on the themes and moods present in the drawings.For your chance to win a copy of ‘Andy Warhol. Love, Sex, and Desire. Drawings 1950–1962,’ follow the instructions below to enter our giveaway.
Giveaway Instructions
Follow us on Facebook and/or Instagram, like the corresponding post, and tag a friend in a comment.