Revisiting the earliest meetings of Andy Warhol and Joseph Beuys in 1979, this exhibition brings together a selection of Warhol’s celebrated portraits of Beuys, composed of paintings, unique Trial Proofs and line drawings, as well as unique and editioned works on paper. While the Beuys portraits are held internationally in the collections of major institutions, this is the first time the group of works has been presented with a solo focus since they were exhibited in the 1980s.
Employing his signature silkscreening technique, Warhol pursued a mode of seriality that allowed him to experiment with colour and composition. Distilling Beuys’s features into an emblematic image, he repeated the German artist’s arresting gaze in different formats and materials, including some of the first instances of diamond dust used in his portraits, as he created a record of one of the most charismatic icons of the twentieth century.
