Marisol and Warhol Take New York

Marisol and Warhol Take New York will chart the emergence of Marisol (b. 1930, Paris; d. 2016, New York) and Andy Warhol (b. 1928, Pittsburgh; d. 1987, New York) in New York during the dawn of Pop art in the early 1960s.  

Marisol and Warhol Take New York explores the artists’ parallel rises to success, the formation of their artistic personas, their savvy navigation of gallery relationships and the blossoming of their early artistic practices from 1960 to 1968. The exhibition features key loans of Marisol’s work from major global collections, along with iconic works and rarely seen films and archival materials from The Warhol’s collection.  

The exhibition highlights shared themes in the artists’ works: iconic Pop subjects of Coca-Cola and the Kennedy family; Warhol’s covertly queer early paintings with Marisol’s investigation of the female experience; the artists’ roles as influencers in the New York gallery scene; and expansive ideas of installation. Integrated throughout the exhibition are Warhol’s silent films, produced in 1963–1964, that he made of Marisol and which capture intimate and magnetic sides of her otherwise reserved persona. These never-before-realized juxtapositions of early works demonstrate Marisol’s clear influence on Warhol’s early career and reveal the sincerity of their artistic friendship.