Yellow Moonwalk Artist: Andy Warhol Size: 38 x 38 Date: 1987 Medium: color screen print Location: Brigham Young University Museum of Art

This image is discernibly a cartooned reproduction of the iconic photograph of the first time man walked on the moon. The image itself symbolizes the discovery of new territory but this coupled with the use of stark yellows and reds against a background of drab blues and greys suggests a breaking away from tradition altogether and a rise against authority.

It is commonplace for Warhol to take a famous event or person and create art that becomes incorporated into popular culture. This particular image became affiliated with the television channel MTV. MTV stands for music television and was one of the popular television stations for teenagers of the nineteen-eighties. MTV featured popular music and artists of the times and created what has thrived into a booming industry that creates a yearning and a craving for fame among its viewers. The media is a powerful thing and Warhol understood this. The use of yellow and the blurring of detail in this reproduction give the image a more laid back, contemporary feel. Warhol’s images always seemed to be minimalist in nature, in that no more detail than was necessary was incorporated. This minimalist technique combined with the use of vivid colors a creates a field of interpretation

The messages that many of Warhol’s images instill in his viewers are made even more apparent when examining his life. He emerged from the poverty and obscurity of an Eastern European immigrant family in Pittsburgh, to become an enigmatic lure for bohemian New York, and to ultimately find a place in the circles of High Society. In a sense he achieved the American dream in that he rose above where he started from, but the question is was this his goal?

His eccentric behaviors and revolutionary ideals have kick started the pop culture

movement and are still as well renowned today as they were when they were created. This fact suggests that the world, especially America, has come to celebrate those that are different especially those that have unique ideals and viewpoints. Through Warhol’s art viewers have the opportunity to get a glimpse into what must have been a jumbled and somewhat sadistic mind. Through commercial illustration, Warhol was able to influence popular tastes. This goes to show what a powerful affect the media can have on the world and how someone’s unique tastes and ideas can be used to manipulate society and even become common place to the point where they almost don’t seem eccentric anymore.          

Rebel Without a Cause Artist: Andy Warhol Size: 38 x 38 inches Date: 1985 Medium: Screen-print Location: Brigham Young University Museum of Art

Andy Warhol’s screen print entitled Rebel Without a Cause is a contemporary work commended for its bright colors iconic subject. The subject of the work of art is the famous James Dean from the film Rebel Without a Cause. The film was made in 1955 and stars the famous movie star of the times, James Dean, who plays a rebellious teenager who finds himself going to a new school and fighting with parents that “don’t understand.” The film primarily deals with the struggle between generations and the evolution of American society as a whole. Warhol probably selected James Dean to be the subject of one of his pieces because he often chose prominent pop culture figures for his work and used them to get across a message or idea. He brought societal themes and pop culture to the art worlds attention.

The Japanese text to the left reads: “Do we still have the fight in us?” The text

coupled with the graphic of James Dean instills a powerful message; a message of rebellion and change. Warhol was renowned for his eccentric and progressive techniques. The question “Do we still have the fight in us,” addresses society as a whole. Warhol’s intent was to invoke profound thought through this question. This artwork seems to be a commentary on the state of the American nation at the time it was generated. America, in 1985, was a place where Billionaires could be made.

Becoming rich in seemed to be the main priority of most Americans of that time,

even more so than in previous and future decades. This strong desire for wealth, brought upon by the advanced wealth and rise to power of many American people (Donald Trump being a prime example), brought the failure of financial crisis down even harder on people. This fight that many people were facing simply to stay afloat may have been the fight that Warhol was addressing. Many people were tired and suicide rates reached one of there highest point in America during the late 1980’s, which goes to show that many of the people didn’t not have the fight in them anymore. It is interesting that Warhol uses James Dean to exemplify this attitude of survival of the fittest because he dies at the young age of 26 in a car crash, which is ironic because in film he plays characters that are tough and seemingly invincible.