As I walked through the mall a couple of weeks ago, I passed by the Gap and noticed a gynormous self-portrait of Andy Warhol in the window. Next to it was another huge print of another one of Warhol’s pieces. Being a fan of Warhol, I was, at first, happy to see his artwork in such an unexpected place. I was then a bit annoyed that such a groundbreaking artist was reduced to the walls of a local mall hotspot. I’ve seen Warhol merchandise at other much more artsy stores but never at a store where you can go in at any point in the season and pretty much always know what’s going to be on the shelves and always walk out looking the same as everybody else. (I’m not dissing the Gap at all. Believe me I’ve bought my fair share of button down shirts and I still always go in to look around whenever I’m in the mall). As I thought about all of this I realized that Warhol would have loved the fact that his mug was in the windows of this retail giant. Warhol was all about sameness, mass production, consumer culture, and fame. He would have loved it that his artwork was being shown in a store that is known for mass-producing the same basic clothing every season. Being that he was all about creating an image and being as famous as he could be, he would have enjoyed that his artwork would have such a mass viewing and that it would show up in virtually every mall in America for every average Joe to see and not just those who show up in museums or galleries. I think it’s also interesting that Warhol started out as a window dresser in New York in the early stages of career and now, as he has reached icon status, he returns to the job of decorating windows.
Click HERE for more on Gap’s rendezvous with the art legend.
By the way, I’m no longer annoyed and I think it’s great that Warhol’s work can be seen by such a widespread audience. Just thought we should clear that up.
Filed under: Art, Culture | Tagged: Andy Warhol, Gap
