In 1965, Andy Warhol announced that he was retiring from painting—a bold move for someone who had recently taken the art world by storm with provocative works of Campbell’s Soup and Marilyn Monroe. Warhol’s “retirement” is a period that shows the depth and range of his talents and interests, during which he explores non-painting mediums, including installation art, film, and music production.
Up, Up and Away is loosely centered around Warhol’s Wallpaper & Clouds show at the Castelli Gallery in April 1966. At the Castelli, one gallery was covered in pink and yellow Cow wallpaper, while another contained nothing but his new Silver Clouds floating sculptures. The show was a shocking departure from the canvas-based works that earned Warhol so much notoriety. During the opening reception for the exhibition, Warhol reportedly opened a window and released one of the Silver Clouds, saying, “That would be the end of painting.”
Stepping away from painting also allowed Warhol’s film experimentation to develop in new ways as he incorporated filmmaking with a new role, that of music producer. Warhol’s partnership with the Velvet Underground led to a collaborative multimedia extravaganza, the Exploding Plastic Inevitable, which paired live music from the band with his layered film projections. Warhol would return to painting in a few short years, but the intentional break made a statement that forced critics and fans alike to acknowledge that there was more to Andy Warhol than silkscreen paintings.
Up, Up and Away is curated by Amber Morgan, director of collections and exhibitions, and Matt Gray, director of archives, The Andy Warhol Museum
