ANDY WARHOL, LOVE (F. & S. II.312), LOVE SERIES, SCREEN PRINT IN COLOURS, EDITION OF 100, 1983
Love (F. & S. II.312) is one of three prints that make up Andy Warhol’s Love series from 1983, depicting a nude couple in various poses of embrace. This print shows the couple facing one another as if about to kiss, each with one hand on their partner and one hand on their own hips. Rendered as a simple line drawing against a plain white backdrop and bright contours of colour, this print marks a departure from Warhol’s typical style.
Warhol’s Love series is a narrative celebration of love, desire and eroticism that uses vibrant misaligned colour and organic line drawings to create an aura of attraction and fantasy. In Love (F. & S. II.311) the figures glow and pulsate in yellow and pink ink, confronting the viewer with an image that is both explicit and elusive in its romantic portrayal of sexual attraction.
Love (F. & S. II.312) is recognisable as a 1980s piece of Pop Art in its highly stylised reduction of form and haze of neon colours. The print also harks back to Warhol’s origins as a fashion illustrator, seen in his elegant use of line and the figures echoing catwalk sketches or fashion advertisements.
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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.
