Andy Warhol @ The AGO

02 Jul 2021

“You need to let the little things that would ordinarily bore you suddenly thrill you.”

True to form, in his Philosophy of Andy Warhol, the artist describes a ‘typical’ walk through New York.

‘When I’m walking around New York I’m always aware of the smells around me: the rubber mats in office buildings; upholstered seats in movie theaters; pizza; Orange Julius; espresso-garlic-oregano; burgers; dry cotton tee-shirts; neighborhood grocery stores; chic grocery stores; the hot dogs and sauerkraut carts; hardware store smell; stationery store smell; souvlaki; the leather and rugs at Dunhill, Mark Cross, Gucci…. the wood chairs and tables in the N.Y. Public Library; the donuts, pretzels, gum, and grape soda in the subways; kitchen appliance departments; photo labs; shoe stores; bicycle stores… grease-batter; hair pomade; the good cheap candy smell in the front of Woolworth’s and the dry-goods smell in the back; the horses by the Plaza Hotel; bus and truck exhaust; architects’ blueprints; cumin, fenugreek, soy sauce, cinnamon; fried platanos… newspaper stands; record stores; fruit stands in all the different seasons—strawberry, watermelon, plum, peach, kiwi, cherry, Concord grape, tangerine, murcot, pineapple, apple—and I love the way the smell of each fruit gets into the rough wood of the crates and into the tissue-paper wrappings.’

The ever unique worldview of Andy Warhol will soon be on display in a major career retrospective at the Art Gallery of Ontario. This exhibition – a collaboration between the AGO, Tate Modern, London, and Museum Ludwig, Cologne – spans four decades and ‘reconsiders the personal, social and political backdrop that influenced Warhol’s groundbreaking art.’ With a delayed opening due to the pandemic, the AGO’s Andy Warhol exhibit is scheduled to ‘open soon.’