On October 24, 2012, The College Group at the Met organized its annual fall party with “Warhol’s Factory at the Met” that was free for all students with a valid i.d. and an interest in popular culture. Even though Andy Warhol used to be known as an avant-garde artist with his commercialist pop art, it is hard to even meet someone who isn’t affected by him today. This Warholian effect was clear during my private viewing of “Regarding Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty years,” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
If you ever thought you can never have too much of a good thing, think again. Andy Warhol’s impact on the art scene, and especially on the hipsters flooding the museum, is quite apparent even without the exhibition itself. Yes, the exhibition provides its audience with Warhol favorites, like his silkscreen of the Campbell’s soup can and Marilyn Monroe. It also displays his interest in the readymade, à la Marcel Duchamp, which has produced artists like Damien Hirst. But it almost stuffs the viewer with an all-you-can-eat buffet of art. The Met claims, “Through approximately forty-five works by Warhol alongside one hundred works by some sixty other artists, Regarding Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years juxtaposes prime examples of Warhol’s paintings, sculpture, and films with those by other artists who in key ways reinterpret, respond, or react to his groundbreaking work.” However, I think the overflowing amount of art in the galleries actually hindered the viewing of the art.
Only after sifting through the cans of soup and hipsters in the galleries, and actually stepping outside the galleries was I able to consider my experience and opinion of Warhol. Each time I would try to analyze the brush strokes in a Chuck Close painting or the graphic design of an enormous box of Marlborough cigarettes, I was stampeded with mobile uploads. Each person in the gallery seemed more concerned to photograph the art than look at it. Few discussion groups gathered in the gallery. I was appreciated when a stranger was eavesdropping on my quick explanation of the evolution of pop art and its effect on mainstream culture. However, the real discussions were few and far between the amount of Instagram uploads.
The amount of art flooded the senses and hindered anyone from even considering the actual work itself. Upon examining a bag of kitty litter, I giggled, but then was distracted by the paintings with chocolate and gold sculptures of Michael Jackson. It was difficult to understand the value of each work because of the immense variety. Ironically, Warhol might have liked this exhibit for this reason. Even though Warhol harnessed the power of commercial art, he also had something important to say. “Buying is much more American than thinking, he stated and I’m as American as they come.” The exhibit could have generated more discussion with fewer art pieces and more complex wall texts, but then again, Warhol might have just wanted to know how much the Met generated in the museum’s gift shop.