Seoul Museum of Art, Jung-gu, Seoul
12th December 2009- 4th April 2010
Opening hours: Tuesday- Friday 10am- 9pm, Saturday, Sunday and National Holidays 10am- 7pm, closed Monday
Admission: Adults 12,000 won, Teens 10,000 won, Children 8,000 won

Entrance Hall, Andy Warhol Exhibition, Seoul Museum of Art

If you haven’t already seen the Andy Warhol show at Seoul Museum of Art, then hurry! It’s only open until April 4th! Don’t miss your chance to see a wonderful collection of over 400 original, mainly silkscreen works by The King of Pop Art himself. The exhibition includes some of his most instantly recognisable works, such as his iconic coca cola bottles, soup cans and celebrity portraits, as well as some lesser known works. Being one of the most famous artists of the 20th century, (he has definitely outlived his predicted 15 minutes of fame,) it is a pleasure to see these icons of our time in the flesh.

Walk through the soup can, turn right at the banana, and you’re plunged into Warhol’s world. In the first room is a collection of earlier works which he produced during his time as a commercial artist, working for the likes of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. These simple yet visually stunning pieces give us some insight to the mind of a young Andy, and hint towards his future signature bold, blocky colours and striking linear style. It’s also great to see a small section of the exhibition dedicated to a number of religious works; it is a little known fact that Warhol was indeed a religious man.

A further section is dedicated to his ‘Time Capsules,’ annual collections of items from his daily life. Here we are shown tidbits of these archives, including newspaper cuttings, records, some of his collection of shoes, and a book of Quotations from Chairman Mao, offering further insights into his inner life.

A room is also dedicated to celebrity portraits, signifying the mechanised aspect of his work, (Wharhol once said, ‘The reason that I’m painting this way is that I want to be a machine.’) There’s a real sense that lots of these works were simply churned out, which isn’t neccesarily a bad thing, as some critics of the time thought, but merely another dimension to his work which equally reflects the time and place he was producing his work; 1970′s America.

Quotations, 'Andy Warhol, the Greatest'

Lots of Warhol quotes are peppered throughout the exhibition, which really helps one gain deeper understanding of the works. The quotations are written in perfect English, but the English translations on the information cards are pretty bad. The first sentence an English speaker reads will probably be,’ Andy Warhol is a Pop Artist who was beloved from public as like superstars during his lifetime.’ This comes across as highly unprofessional. Furthermore, whilst the collection of silkscreens is brilliant, I feel that more attention could have been paid to his ‘Factory.’ There was nothing to indicate that Andy was not the sole artistic hand to all of the pieces. His work involving music and film could have also been expanded on beyond one room playing film and music of the Velvet Underground with no explanation. Likewise, a collaborative piece with Jean- Michael Basquiat was exhibited, but the importance of such a collaboration, which saw Warhol pick up a paintbrush to actually paint for the first time in years, could have been highlighted.

Overall, however, this is a great exhibition, not to be missed. The show is well laid out and offers a comprehensive guide to his most famous work; a chance to see some of the most famous artistic images of the 20th century, as well as glimpses into the life of the man who produced them.

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