Chairman Mao


Andy Warhol is one of my favorite contemporary artists. I especially like the way the museum has presented this particular piece. Although this painting commands the attention of anyone in the room, you can't help but smile at the use of eye shadow and lipstick on the former dictator. And the polka dot style Mao heads as a backdrop for his portrait further undo his dominance.

21 comments:

  1. definitely colorful, almost whimsical. :)

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  2. What fun! I love the polka dots. :)

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  3. Yep, the polka dots will do it ever time. "She wore an itsy bitsy teenie weenie. . ." :-)

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    1. I do not want to think of Mao in any type of bikini! ;-)

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  4. I wondered from the thumbnail if it would be a Warhol.

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  5. The museum has presented this painting exceptionally well.

    When I was in Pittsburgh about five or six years ago, I went to the Andy Warhol museum. Fascinating. And last December I was in Columbus, Ohio, and the Wexner Art Center at Ohio State had a major exhibition of works of Warhol. Again, fascinating.

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  6. Andy foresaw the commodification and trivialization of EVERYTHING.



    ALOHA from Honolulu,
    ComfortSpiral
    =^..^=

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  7. I have seen reproductions of this portrait but like the size and scale of this one. And I love those Mao head polka dots!

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  8. Eye shadow and lipstick. A lot of possible interpretations. Some people may find these attributes make him look quite friendly and human. The same happens with Hitler showing him playing and joking with children. I find the Warhol message ambivalent and stay sceptical.

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  9. Very well presented indeed

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  10. Its always nice to live in a big city with so many musea to choice from. Great work indeed.

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  11. His work is very original!

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  12. You are right, it does make one smile! The Phoenix Art Museum has an Andy Warhol exhibit going on right now. I do love his work. Of the pieces in the exhibit I like the Queen Elizabeth the best.

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  13. The background they have chosen for Warhol's Mao is just perfect and I love it!

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  14. If the intent was to make the "chairman" childlike and simple-minded, it works well! :)

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  15. I like the colours used for this painting, it works out.

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  16. I bought a high quality print of this when we visited the museum. It hung on the wall of my office and ended up in a post. A CDP affiliate, an American whose wife was Chinese, went simply berserk at me over it. Don't know if he is still around but it was a very unsettling experience.

    I thought it was a brilliant work.

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  17. Warhol sure had an amusing way of painting what he thought. ;)

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