Andy Warhol: Death and Disaster

A 1962 newspaper photograph of a plane crash inspired Andy Warhol (1928–87) to produce a series dealing with catastrophes and horrific accidents. In his grainy silkscreens―some brightly colored, others in black and silver―both the content and form refer to the reportage aesthetics, general appetite for sensation and the confusion of images that dominate modern society, using this as a background against which to explore transience and mortality. In a 1963 interview about the Death and Disaster series, Warhol mentioned the photograph of the plane crash but also referenced his pictures of Marilyn Monroe: "I realized that everything I was doing must have been Death." This catalogue, published to accompany an exhibition at the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, goes beyond the Death and Disaster series, and includes Warhol's pictures of Jacqueline Kennedy, skulls, race riots and electric chairs in a survey of this critical theme in Warhol's oeuvre.