hang him on your wall

Andy Warhol, Korupt, Southampton

Andy Warhol used to put in regular appearances at The Corn Poppy but he's not been around for a little while.  This morning I turned a corner and there he was, lovingly stencilled by Korupt.  I turned another corner and there was another echo of Andy.

This was painted on the wall of a florist.  Obviously it could have been painted by a child. Or a florist.  But you and I know it is based on Warhol's Flowers

Here's the corner and there's the shop.  Scents of Occasion.

Here's Warhol in situ:

Not overstated at all.  Keeping a low profile you might say. Not doing anything to stand out from the crowd.

and on remembrance day here's a poppy from The Corn Poppy

Relentless and Pot Noodles

A fair amount of the art featured in this blog is graffiti, street art, urban art. One reason for this is that some of the most interesting new visual art is street art.  There is an element of excitement in finding masterpieces on the street - there is also the element of democracy with art being on the walls around town and out of the galleries.

Lou Reed and/or John Cale channelling Andy Warhol in Songs for Drella wrote

The trouble with a classicist, he looks at a tree, that's all he sees, he paints a tree. The trouble with a classicist he looks at the sky, he doesn't ask why, he just paints a sky.

Perhaps Warhol was thinking of this picture in the Philadelphia Museum of Art by Alexandre Calame.

Calame, Oak Trees, 

The trouble with an impressionist, he looks at a log and he doesn't know who he is, standing, staring, at this log.  Surrealist memories are too amorphous and proud, while those downtown macho painters are just alcoholic.

The trouble with personalities, they're too wrapped up in style.  It's too personal, they're in love with their own guile.  They're like illegal aliens trying to make a buck. They're driving gypsy cabs but they're thinking like a truck

So, that's the trouble with classicists, impressionists, surrealists, downtown macho painters and personalities.  Did Andy/Lou/John rate any art forms?  Course they did:

I like the druggy downtown kids who spray paint walls and trains
I like their lack of training, their primitive technique
I think sometimes it hurts you when you stay too long in school
I think sometimes it hurts you when you're afraid to be called a fool

The sort of artist that exists on a diet of Relentless and Pot Noodles.