FROM WARHOL TO BANKSY
Where: Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, 1040 Moss St.
When: Dec. 14, 2024, to April 27, 2025
Pop art is simplicity incarnate, from a plainly-rendered soup can to a comic strip panel tagged with glib sarcasm.
But the subversive, anarchistic nature and commercial commentary integral to the movement has deep meaning when seen through the lens of iconic figures like Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, and Roy Lichtenstein, and more recent offerings from upstarts Christine Wang and Alex Da Corte.
Though its foundation was laid in the 1950s, pop art is a gale force wind in 2025, and remains one of the most exhibited forms of contemporary art — including a new exhibit at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria opening this weekend.
From Warhol to Banksy, which runs until April 27, is a travelling exhibition from the Kelowna Art Gallery curated by Christine May. Many of the pieces on display are courtesy of the Paul and Tracy Mitchell Collection, including limited edition screenprints from Warhol and street artist Banksy and lithographs from Lichtenstein.
“These are big names in the art world, and this is pretty popular stuff,” said Steven McNeil, chief curator and director of exhibitions for the AGGV.
Pop art serves as an important indicator, when society turns a lens on itself. That gives the exhibit an appeal that will draw visitors not normally attuned to events held at the art gallery, McNeil said. “The way the world has evolved, so many of the ideas that seemed controversial or crass in Warhol’s world have really become mainstream, and are now a big part of the world today. The idea of everyone trying to be famous for 15 minutes is a concept that rings pretty true when you think of how young people live nowadays.”
From Warhol to Banksy features more than 100 pieces, including ones selected from the AGGV’s own reserve in addition to those borrowed from private collections. Limited edition prints of Warhol’s tomato soup can series, Lichtenstein’s much-parodied Drowning Girl and provocative pieces by ever-elusive U.K. artist Banksy are the showstoppers; even those with little knowledge of contemporary art are familiar with Warhol’s Marilyn series, so prints of the originals will drive much of the business to what is expected to be one of the top AGGV exhibits in recent memory.
“We have a full wall of Marilyn portraits, including one that is particularly special,” McNeil said.
That would be the Monroe print shot with a bullet, a tip of the hat to the infamous 1964 incident during which performance artist Dorothy Podber shot a stack of Monroe silkscreens recently painted by Warhol during a visit to his studio, The Factory.
“I’m not sure if that is actually the reason there is a bullet hole in this work, but there is a bullet hole,” McNeil said with a laugh.
Two years ago, one of those originals, Shot Sage Blue Marilyn, sold for US $195 million, making it the most expensive 20th century artwork ever to sell at auction.
From Warhol to Banksy also includes pieces by Tom Wesselmann, Takashi Murakami, and Mr. Brainwash. Lesser-known entries from sa国际传媒 will have their own section, under the banner From Balzar to Hunt. “Pop art is not something that people immediately associate with Canadian art,” McNeil said. “But there was a lot of pop art made here in sa国际传媒”
Victoria, in particular, is well represented. Works by local artists Joan Balzar, Michael Morris, Audrey Riller, and Todd Lambeth will be on display and will assuredly draw some attention, according to McNeil.
Pop art — which takes its name from “pop culture” — is often seen as the enfant terrible of the contemporary art world, in part because of its mainstream popularity. High-contrast, low-brow offerings have given the artform a questionable reputation is certain circles, even though pop art has lost of none of its impact decades into its run. “Some people have trouble with the commercialization of it, and view it as commodity, or something of a virus,” McNeil said.
”But that is kind of the point of pop art. You have to embrace it, and take it for what it is, and appreciate what it is for. ”
Warhol is the subject of many retrospectives, one of which will be screened during the exhibit. Brillo Box (3¢ off), a 2016 documentary short, revolves around the artist’s Brillo Box series — one of which sold for more than US $3 million in 2010, a record at the time. It will add perspective to Warhol’s legend for those who watch the film, McNeil said.
There is nothing of that ilk to illuminate the fine work of the exhibition’s Victoria contingent, but McNeil said when guests see the works, “they will absolutely know they are pop art and know that they are from that period.”
His hope is that From Warhol to Banksy contextualizes their contributions. Morris, for example, was Warhol’s friend and colleague, and spent quite a bit of time in New York in the decades prior to his death in 2022.
“He owned some Warhols and Lichtenstein works, and we’ve borrowed two of them [from his estate] to hang next to Michael’s work, so guests can see works from Warhols and Lichtenstein that belonged to Michael,” McNeil said.
