Andy Warhol’s ‘Pop Art’ in Antalya

ANTALYA

AA photo

Following the Picasso and Ara Güler exhibitions, the Antalya Culture and Arts Center (AKS) is now hosting Andy Warhol, who is known for his many iconic works.

The exhibition, titled “Pop Art for Everyone,” includes pieces from Slovakia’s Zoya Museum. 

A culture and arts platform in the center of the southern province of Antalya, AKS is located on the site of the former Antalya Trade and Industrial Chamber (ATSO) building.

Organized under the consultancy of the Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation Pera Musuem, the exhibition displays 47 works including “Campbell’s Soup,” “Cowboys and Indians,” “Endangered Species” and “Flowers,” as well as portraits of well-known figures.

Speaking at the opening of the exhibition, ATSA President Davut Çetin said, “Andy Warhol is a painter, film producer, photographer and master of color, who can turn a simple can into a work of art. The cars that he painted are being displayed at automobile museums. Some automobile brands also have Warhol collections and exhibitions. One of the largest U.S. museums bears the name of Warhol. I think people of every age can be inspired by this exhibition.” 

Davut said one of the biggest complaints in Antalya was the lack of tourists in the city center and that AKS would bring more tourists to the city center. “Tour operators included AKS in their program in 2016,” he said. 


Inspiring thinkers worldwide

The artistic productivity of Warhol, who lived between 1928 and 1987, was vast and impressive. More than 20 years after his death, he remains one of the most influential figures in contemporary art and culture. 

Warhol’s life and work inspires creative thinkers worldwide thanks to his enduring imagery, his artfully cultivated celebrity and the ongoing research of dedicated scholars. 

His impact as an artist is far deeper and greater than his one prescient observation that “everyone will be world famous for 15 minutes.” 

His omnivorous curiosity resulted in an enormous body of work that spanned every available medium and most importantly contributed to the collapse of boundaries between high and low culture.

Warhol’s manner, clothes, hair color and gestures were all as significant as the works he created and the life he led. 

The concept that he ultimately triggered and crafted of an “artist as machine” operating mechanically both in the selection of his symbol and in the process of replicating it, emphasized the ordinariness and even banality of his actions. Nevertheless, his aspiration to play the role of a great artist remains undisputable.

The exhibition can be visited through Sept. 25.