Andy Warhol | Self-Portrait, 1968 | acrylic and silkscreen ink on linen | Founding Collection, The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh | © Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts / SODRAC (2008) | Organized and circulated by The Winnipeg Art Gallery supported by the Department of Canadian Heritage through the Canada Travelling Exhibitions Indemnification Program

VICTORIA, B.C.- Credited as one of the major artistic innovators of the 20th century, Warhol’s fame spread well beyond painting and printmaking. Filmmaker, sculptor, author, collector, publisher, provocateur, music producer, celebrity—Warhol understood and negotiated the ride of fame, a sophisticated arbiter and manipulator of popular culture and fashion.

Warhol: Larger than Life examines the entirety of the artist’s career. Its Larger than Life focus considers three main issues: the elevation of everyday subject matter to the sphere of “Fine Art,” the celebration of celebrities and their larger than life existences, and finally, the creation of Andy Warhol—his metamorphosis from Andrew Warhol, a sickly young boy from a poor neighbourhood in depression era Pittsburgh to the trendsetter of New York. Of interest to Canadian audiences, the exhibition also explores Warhol’s contact with this country, be it in terms of events, exhibitions, celebrities, or controversy.

Warhol: Larger than Life is an expansive project of over 150 paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures, photographs, archival ephemera and films spanning some four decades of production. Working directly with The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, PA, the WAG enjoyed full access to its considerable collection of art and archives.

Andy Warhol | Campbell’s Soup I Chicken Noodle, 1968 | screen print on paper | Founding Collection, The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh | © Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts / SODRAC (2008) | Organized and circulated by The Winnipeg Art Gallery supported by the Department of Canadian Heritage through the Canada Travelling Exhibitions Indemnification Program.