Milwaukee Art Museum curator John McKinnon discusses the work of American artist Andy Warhol during the final years of his life as part of Lawrence University’s 2009-10 Visiting Artist Series.
McKinnon presents “The Late Work of Andy Warhol” Thursday, Feb. 4 at 4:30 p.m. in the Wriston Art Center auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.
Famous for his pop art and paintings of iconic American products and celebrities, Warhol’s work over the last 10 years of his life showed a striking transformation of his style as he pursued new ideas and techniques. Combining mechanical reproduction, abstraction, representation and hand-painting, Warhol developed more new series of artwork in his last years than during any other stage of his career.
McKinnon, who calls Warhol “as famous as he is misunderstood,” will discuss the differences between the earlier Warhol most people know and recognize through his pop art and the later, lesser-known Warhol, who spent the last decade of his life creating art that was more personal, abstract, neo-expressionist and religious in nature.
As assistant curator of modern and contemporary art at the Milwaukee Art Museum, McKinnon coordinated the first U.S. museum exhibition to explore the work of Warhol’s last decade, “Andy Warhol: The Last Decade.” The exhibit is currently touring museums around the nation. McKinnon has also written for Artforum, Time Out Chicago and Flash Art.
McKinnon’s appearance is sponsored by the Lawrence University department of art and art history.
