‘Warhol Now’ – Contemporary Art Response

In May, the Museum’s curatorial team put a call out to a broad range of contemporary Australian artists asking them to respond to the Museum’s upcoming Andy Warhol’s Jewish Geniuses exhibition.

Artists were asked to respond to Warhol’s ideas of fame and celebrity, his pop art aesthetic or his creative technique. The Museum has called this exhibition Warhol Now as it looks at the way Warhol can still affect artists and art today. Our 7 selected artists each responded very personally and very differently, creating an outcome that is both inspiring and diverse. Artists include Ilana Bellville, David Brook, Ede Horton, Shirley Groves-Klebaner, Lisa Krivitsky, Dr Vera Möller, Joseph Wiedenbaum.

It’s been great taking part in the process from the beginning – watching these artists’ ideas come to fruition. Some are working with completely new practices and others are dealing with completely new subject matter they don’t normally address. It took great creativity and skill for these artists to purposefully mould their practices or find parallels in their aesthetic style or to contrast their work to Warhol’s, highlighting a difference in technique.

We have a glass work artist dealing with wax and a sculptor dealing in digital photography. We also have two collage artists who have had to think how to turn their work into portraiture.

Each piece is bold, strong and successful on its own. However, together they become a layered and complex response to Andy Warhol’s Jewish Geniuses that encourages us to consider the effect of Warhol’s work and his ideas today- which is why you must come and see Warhol Now!

Image Credit: ‘Mood Indigo’, Vera Möller Selfportrait, Vera Möller 2014.