This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/mar/10/andy-warhol-wigs-go-on-display-in-uk-for-first-time

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Andy Warhol's wigs go on display in UK for first time Andy Warhol's 'fright wigs' go on display in UK for first time
(32 minutes later)
Tate Modern show features the late pop artist’s hairpieces along with 100 worksTate Modern show features the late pop artist’s hairpieces along with 100 works
Three precisely coiffured wigs Andy Warhol probably glued to his head because of the terror of them flying off have gone on display in the UK for the first time. Three precisely coiffured wigs Andy Warhol probably glued to his head because he feared they would “fly off” are to go on display in the UK for the first time.
Tate Modern will this week open its first big Warhol show for almost 20 years, with more than 100 works from across his career. Tate Modern will this week open its first big Warhol show for almost 20 years, featuring more than 100 works from his career.
But co-curator Gregor Muir said they also had to have the wigs because they shine a light on how Warhol himself became a work of art. Gregor Muir, the co-curator, said the London gallery wanted to display the wigs because they shone a unique light on the artist.
“They are incredible objects which he would have had a say in, in terms of their design … the way they are dark at the back and blonde at the front,” said Muir. “The wigs are part of Warhol’s persona and Warhol himself was an artwork.” “They are incredible objects, which he would have had a say in, in terms of their design … the way they are dark at the back and blonde at the front,” he said. “The wigs are part of Warhol’s persona, and Warhol himself was an artwork.”
Muir recalled seeing the wigs on their own for the first time at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh and thinking they had to be part of the Tate show. “It was a little eerie, it has to be said but at the same time – it is him.” Muir recalled seeing the wigs for the first time at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh and thinking they had to be part of the Tate show. “It was a little eerie, it has to be said but at the same time – it is him.”
Warhol was bald from his 20s and his early wigs were quite conservative. “They are a man who wants to blend in,” said Muir. As Warhol gets older they get wilder, more silvery “and in some ways scarier.” Warhol was bald from his 20s and his early wigs were quite conservative. “They are a man who wants to blend in,” Muir said. As Warhol got older they became wilder, more silvery “and, in some ways, scarier”.
He used strong glues and lots of product, said Muir. “He was so fearful of the idea it would fly off.” He used strong glues and lots of product, Muir said. “He was so fearful of the idea it would fly off.”
Next to the wigs is one of Warhol’s instantly recognisable ‘fright wig’ self portraits created in 1986. Muir said: “You have to ask yourself what has given him the fright? It is as if he has seen a ghost. I get very poetic here but perhaps he is his own ghost.” Next to the wigs is one of Warhol’s instantly recognisable “fright wig” self portrait, created in 1986.
The show includes a number of artworks going on display in the UK for the first time. They include Sixty Last Suppers, a 10m wide canvas created a few months before Warhol died. Muir said: “You have to ask yourself, what has given him the fright? It is as if he has seen a ghost. I get very poetic here but perhaps he is his own ghost.”
The work is a meditation on death, immortality and the afterlife and has been hung in the final room of the show which is dark and feels more like a chapel. The show includes a number of artworks that will go on display in the UK for the first time. They include Sixty Last Suppers, a 10-metre wide canvas created months before Warhol died.
Another is a large screenprint of dozens of Marilyn Monroe’s lips from his Marilyn series, made a few months after she was found dead after a drugs overdose in 1962. The work is a meditation on death, immortality and the afterlife and has been hung in the exhibition’s final room, which is dark and feels more like a chapel.
Warhol will be all over Tate Modern for the duration of the show, including an homage to his sweet tooth with a “death by cheesecake” pale ale available on draft and in cans. In the kitchen and bar there will be frozen hot chocolate, a nod to New York’s Serendipity Cafe where it was the signature dessert. Another is a large screen print of dozens of Marilyn Monroe’s lips from his Marilyn series, made months after she was found dead after a drugs overdose in 1962.
Andy Warhol is at Tate Modern 12 March-6 September. Warhol will be all over Tate Modern for the duration of the show, including a homage to his sweet tooth with a Death by Cheesecake pale ale available on draft and in cans. In the kitchen and bar there will be frozen hot chocolate, a nod to New York’s Serendipity Cafe, where it was the signature dessert.
Andy Warhol is at Tate Modern 12 March until 6 September.