ANDY WARHOL, FLASH-NOVEMBER 22 (F. & S. II.35), NEW YORK, RACOLIN PRESS, 1963, FLASH-NOVEMBER 22, 1963 SERIES, SIGNED SCREEN PRINT, EDITION OF 200, 1968
Andy Warhol’s print Flash-November 22, New York from his Flash-November 22, 1963 series (1968) shows an image taken from President John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign. The print’s title stems from the phrase ‘news-flash’, alluding to a piece of highly important news in the mass-media. Warhol returned again and again to the events of Kennedy’s assassination in 1963 and its related images, notably his Jackie Kennedy prints (1965), with this portfolio being his last iteration of the subject.
Based on campaign posters, mass media photos and advertisement, the Flash-November 22, 1963 Series elevates and appropriates news items into the realm of high art, so to question the value of art in comparison to this widely disseminated imagery. Warhol uses his renowned screen printing method to deliberately flatten and colour the original photograph in bright red.
Mimicking the mass-produced and widely circulated image of Kennedy’s assassination in the news-media through the screen printing method, Warhol explores how the public has become desensitised to themes of death and tragedy with the proliferation of mass-news images. Each of the prints are supplemented by Teletype reports written by Philip Greer, providing a media narrative to the images that constructs our understanding of the event. Warhol makes it clear that mass-media coverage can detrimentally shape public opinion to the extent that it eclipses individual comprehension of such grave instances.
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ABOUT ANDY WARHOL
Andy Warhol (born Andrew Warhola) is a name synonymous with the celebrity culture and mass consumerism which coloured the boulevards of New York City in the Post World War II era. Born into a working class immigrant family in the urban landscape around the bustling metropolis, Warhol’s early life was characterised by a climb up the capitalist rungs of society.
The artist himself noted, “buying is more American than thinking, and I’m as American as they come”, this quote came to demarcate Warhol’s artistic practice as he embraced the commodification of the American Dream. The Pop artist’s beginnings in the business sector gave him the practical skill set to experiment with a more commercial approach to art throughout his career, particularly with regards to screen printing. Read more about Andy Warhol.
