SINGAPORE.- The largest collection of iconic works by Andy Warhol is on display at ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands on the 25th anniversary of the artist’s death. The exhibition, sponsored by BNY Mellon and organized by The Andy Warhol Museum in Warhol’s home town of Pittsburgh, chronicles the breadth of Warhol’s career and demonstrates the scope of his interests.

Titled after a quote from the popular artist himself, “In the future, everybody will be world-famous for fifteen minutes”, Andy Warhol: 15 Minutes Eternal features over 260 paintings, drawings, sculptures, film, and video of the legendary artist’s works, marking the first time such an extensive collection is exhibited in Singapore. The exhibition is also accompanied by a wide range of associated documents, interactive timelines, photographs, and archival material.

Andrew Warhola (6 August 1928 – 22 February 1987), better known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker. He was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as Pop Art and was renowned for using mass production of popular culture such as advertising, comic books, and brand products, as the basis of his art. Andy Warhol: 15 Minutes Eternal features his masterpieces including Jackie (1964), Marilyn Monroe (1967), Campbell’s Soup (1961), Silver Liz (1963), Time Capsule 51 (1970’s), The Last Supper (1986), and numerous iconic Self-Portraits.

Mr. Nick Dixon, Executive Director, ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands, said, “Andy Warhol: 15 Minutes Eternal will show visitors the multiple facets of Andy Warhol’s talents. Art can come in many forms. Andy Warhol showed the world how various mediums and technology can transform everyday items like Campbell’s soup cans and photos into pop art icons. He had an amazing ability to simplify art and make it accessible to the mass public.”

Visitors to the exhibition will journey through four different stages of Andy Warhol’s life, starting from his early artistic years in the 1940’s to his final works in the 1980’s. The exhibition will present an extensive range of important artworks from the various phases of his artistic career.

1. “Early Years” – 1940s to 1950s
This gallery introduces Andy Warhol and the early influences in his art. It showcases his drawings as a child, his first artworks as a commercial artist and the blotted line technique he created

2. “The Factory Years” – 1960s
The 1960’s marked Warhol’s transition from commercial art to business art. It was during this time that he created the iconic masterpieces of the Campbell’s Soup Can and portraits of celebrities such as Liz Taylor and Marilyn Monroe. Films by Warhol also are presented within this gallery, showcasing his diverse talents.

A separate space is dedicated to recreating the Silver Factory, Warhol’s studio in the 1960’s in New York which was entirely covered with foil. To provide an interesting interactive experience, the space features costumes for visitors to dress up and be “a star for 15 minutes”, a photo booth to capture the experience, a reproduction of the couch from the Silver Factory from which visitors can enjoy his avant garde films, and the whimsical Silver Clouds (1966) piece made of floating helium balloons.

3. “Exposures” – 1970s
During the 70’s, Warhol’s celebrated use of Polaroids in photographing celebrities came to prominence. During this time, Andy Warhol focused on commissioned portraits to fund his interest in experimental film. This shift in focus is evident in the genre of art works on display such as advertisements and silverprint photographs, which reflect Warhol’s fascination with fame and glamour. It is also during this time that he started creating time capsules which contained meaningful items collected from the various periods of his life. Out of the over 600 time capsules Warhol created throughout his lifetime, visitors are able to view one that contains over 50 magazines and books.

4. “The Last Supper” – 1980s
Having reached the pinnacle of success in the art world, Warhol ventured into television media with Andy Warhol’s T.V. and Andy Warhol’s Fifteen Minutes which visitors are able to watch in this exhibition space. The diversity of his last decade of creation includes such works as the Endangered Species series, Rorschach series and Oxidation Paintings. The exhibition concludes with The Last Supper and Self Portrait, two iconic masterpieces he created at the very end of his life that are monumental in both scale and the impact they had in the art industry.

To cater to young art enthusiasts, a special display for children has been created based on a similar exhibition Andy Warhol did in 1983 at Bruno Bischofberger gallery in Switzerland. Visitors young and old view art from a child’s perspective – toy paintings are displayed at a lower eye level. This is the first time this form of viewing has been specially commissioned in Singapore.

Explore the influence of Andy Warhol on Southeast Asian art
25 years after his death, Andy Warhol‟s creations continue to make an impact on the global art scene. To highlight the influence of Andy Warhol on Southeast Asian modern and contemporary art, three artists from the region have been selected to showcase their artworks as part of the Andy Warhol: 15 Minutes Eternal exhibition at ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. This collection is exclusive to the Singapore venue of the exhibition.

Over 16 artworks and associated documentation such as publications and photographs have been selected by ArtScience Museum with each reflecting a visual language similar to Warhol‟s but infused with distinctive cultural elements. Specially curated by the museum for the exhibition, the artworks draw on common themes and techniques made famous by the iconic Pop Artist, for example his interest in mass consumer, pop and celebrity culture, and the use of mass reproduction techniques for art.

Mr. Nick Dixon, Executive Director, ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands said, “Andy Warhol was not only an internationally renowned artist who made art accessible to the masses, he had a huge influence on a new generation of artists whether they realized or not. With the „Warhol in Southeast Asia‟ gallery, we contextualize Warhol‟s influence in the region and demonstrate how Asian art can bridge the East-West divide. ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands aims to promote creativity through innovation and these Southeast Asian artists perfectly demonstrate how to achieve that.”

Key highlights include: taking famous icons such as Mickey Mouse from their “Western” environment and depicting them as traditional Thai mythical figures; and a local take on Warhol‟s Campbell Soup series with a can of Ma Ling luncheon meat – a brand of canned processed meat many local Singaporeans can identify with.

Visitors to the gallery will be able to view the artworks from three artists from Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, including:

1. Jahan Loh (Singapore): Jahan Loh works primarily in the field of urban pop painting. He merges both the traditional presentation mode of “high-end” visual pop art with modern street art into his paintings.

2. Ibrahim Hussein (Malaysia; 1936-2009): Ibrahim Hussein devised a medium called “printage” which is a combination of printing and collage. Having met Andy Warhol in 1977 as a fellow exhibitor, he created a printage in memory of his friendship with Warhol.

3. Jirapat Tatsanasomboon (Thailand): Jirapat Tatsanasomboon is known for applying pop-art style to his paintings which often feature interactions between East-West and Modern-Traditional. He takes on well-known icons in the art and entertainment industry and immerses them in a Thai context.

Andy Warhol: 15 Minutes Eternal will run from 17 March 2012 until 12 August 2012. This exhibition is part of an Asian tour that will travel to five cities over 27 months starting in Singapore. It will then move on to Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing and finally Tokyo in 2014.