BriefBackground

Andy Warhol created a series of paintings of flowers in 1964 and 1965, and continued the series through the late 1960s. He revisited the series in the 1980s. He produced over 900 Flowers paint-ings in total.

ABOVE: WARHOL WITH HIS ASSISTANTS PHILIP FAGAN (LEFT), AND POET GERARD MALANGA (RIGHT). AT THE FACTORY, 231 EAST 47TH STREET, NEW YORK, 1964. (PHOTO UGO MULAS © UGO MULAS HEIRS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. © ANDY WARHOL FOUNDATION / ARTISTS RIGHTS SOCIETY (ARS), NEW YORK

OriginalImage Source

The artwork for the Flowers paintings was based on a photo of hibiscus flowers by Patricia Caulfield. Her photograph appeared in the June 1964 issue of Modern Photography in an article that demonstrated Kodak’s new color processor.

Warhol cut out the magazine page, cut up and reconfigured the composition, and made several black-and-white photocopies in an effort to increase the contrast to purely black and white.

The artwork Warhol created is best described as a photocopy of a photocopy (10 times) of a magazine page (CMYK offset printed) of a photo of a color photo-print made with a Kodak Rapid Print color processor.

OriginalPhoto-Mechanical

This is the photo-mechanical used to create the film to expose the emulsion on the silkscreens used to make Warhol’s Flowers paintings. Particular attention was given to the stamen of the flowers and to ensuring the compositon conformed to a square. This image was used for study by McGinness (as opposed to one of the paintings), because it provides the clearest im-pression of the intended picture.

DrawingProcess(Petals)

DrawingProcess(Grass)

PaintingProcess

The Warhol Flower Icons were painted in McGinness’ studio in the Chinatown neighbor-hood of downtown Manhattan. Each painting was created using layers of acrylic paint brushed and silkscreened onto double-primed Belgian linen. Care was taken to ensure that each painting is truly unique.

Installation

As per Warhol’s original intention with his Flowers paintings, there is no correct orientation for hanging each of the Warhol Flower Icons. There is no intended top, bottom, right, or left side.

The paintings can be hung from their stretcher bars if no d-rings, wires, or frames have been added.

When hanging the Warhol Flower Icons in a grid, the grid should be as evenly and equally spaced as possible. Avoid any obvious patterns and strive for a visual balance of dominant colors. A grid of Warhol Flowers Icons should appear comfortably random.

WarholInstallation(1964)

ABOVE: ANDY WARHOL, FLOWERS, INSTALLATION VIEW, LEO CASTELLI GALLERY, NEW YORK, 1964

WarholInstallation(1965)

ABOVE: ANDY WARHOL, FLOWERS, INSTALLATION VIEW, GALERIE ILEANA SONNABEND, PARIS, 1965

McGinnessInstallationExample

ABOVE: RYAN MCGINNESS, WARHOL FLOWER ICONS, INSTALLATION VIEW, ECHOONENANZUKA, BANGKOK, 2018

Care

The Warhol Flower Icon paintings have been made with acrylic paint brushed and silkscreened onto double-primed Belgian linen. No varnish has been applied to the paintings.

Handle the paintings with gloves to ensure that no oils from the skin are transfered to the surface of the paintings. Swiffers, and tack cloths may be used with a light touch on the paintings to remove dust and/or loose debris.

If needed, use only touch-up paints that have been supplied by Ryan McGinness Studios, Inc.

Linen is a natural organic material that breathes, expands, and shifts with changes in temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure. If the paintings look loose, a very fine mist of distilled water may be sprayed on the back. This will tighten up the lin-en when dried. The paintings may be restretched as a last resort.

Avoid exposing paintings to direct sunlight.

Packing & Shipping

The Warhol Flower Icons are well-made with durable color-fast acrylic paint on an archival linen. While they are not fragile, they should be handled with care.

Ideally, the paintings should be shadow-boxed with clear plastic over (but not touching) the surface of the paintng.

If the paintings cannot be shadow-boxed, they can be wrapped in silicone-release paper first, and then a layer of foam. Cardboard corners should be used. The wrapped painting can then be sand-wiched between two pieces of cardboard, each cut slightly larger than the painting.

Do not use bubble wrap directly on the suraface as it leaves a textured impression on the surface of the painting.

Aesthetics

The Warhol Flower Icons are painted using brushes and silkscreens so that the imperfections inherent in the procces are exploited to become a celebration of the process. Including the registra-tion marks as compositional elements on the sides and front surfaces of the paintings is a purposeful gesture. Surface blemishes, off-registration, and apparent odd croppings are embraced and contribute to making each painting truly unique.

These are not pre-planned paintings that are sim-ply executed as reproductions. With each work, the artist is involved in the production by making intu-itive decisions. The process of making the painting informs the final result.

ImageReproduction

Although Warhol’s intention with the Flowers paintings was that there would be no correct ori-entation when hanging them, for the purposes of cataloging, taking inventory, and simply differen-ciating between each unique painting, a standard orientation must be established. The standard ori-entation is to place The Great Northwest Blade in the upper-left corner.

Grass Background

Flower 1

Flower 2

Flower 4Flower 3

Stamen (Flower 1)Stamen (Flower 2)

Stamen (Flower 3)

Stamen (Flower 4)The Southwest Patch

The Great Northwest Blade

The Spider

ImageReproduction

The pigments used in the Warhol Flower Icons cannot be faithfully reproduced because they reflect different sections of the light spectrum based on their physical properties. These unique properties are further amplified with the artist’s layering techniques. Therefore, the paintings may look different in person than they do when reproduced in RGB lights (on a computer screen) or in CMYK (when offset printed in a book).

VersoInscriptions

Each Warhol Flower Icon painting is signed by Ryan McGinness and dated with the year of com-pletion. Each painting is also ascribed a unique number by Ryan McGinness Studios, Inc.WFI.8.46 stands for Warhol Flower Icon, 8 inches square, number 46. The paintings at each size are numbered chronologically according to pro-duction.

In most cases, the paintings are signed on the top overlap. In rare cases, when there was not enough space on the top overlap, the paintings were signed on the bottom overlap. In most cases, the paintings are signed in Sharpie Permanent Marker.

McGinnessWarholConnection

• Warhol is often cited when McGinness’ work is written about.• McGinness went to the same school as Warhol (Carnegie Mellon University) in Pittsburgh.• McGinness worked at The Andy Warhol Museum.• Warhol’s Flowers are his most ambitious body of work, and yet they do not get much attention. • McGinness believes Warhol’s Flowers are his most misunderstood paintings.

McGinness studied Andy Warhol’s Flowers series, and engaged himself in the challenge of reinter-preting the work through his own iconic style. The new Warhol Flower Icons are created in the same traditional spirit of artists “re-making” the work of artists in the past (eg. Picasso’s Velásquez, Lichten-stein’s Picassos, and even Warhol’s various art history redux paintings). In this way, McGinness does not simply imitate Warhol, but rather the Warhol Flower Icons are painted in McGinness’ own voice.

McGinnessWarholPress Quotes

“He had a poster of a Warhol Coke-bottle painting on the wall of his teenage bedroom.”(Symonds, Alexandria. “One Artist’s Very Symbolic New Work, Explained — Sort of.” www.nytimes.com (August 10, 2016))

“Although he uses silkscreen for painting, which can be a straightfor-ward graphic enterprise, his layering of symbols over and over again begins to look like Expressionism and then suddenly is. Using such a technique manages to place him in the improbable realm of both Jackson Pollock and Andy Warhol simultaneously, as Jeffrey Deitch noted of his work.”(Landes, Jennifer. “More Is More at Marder.” www.easthamptonstar.com (August 13, 2015))

“He’s built a bridge between himself and the brand, making sense of the collaboration in a Warholian vein, which is to be expected given the impact the Pope of Pop has had on his career. A fan since he was a child, he studied at Carnegie Mellon (Warhol’s alma mater) and interned as a curatorial assistant at the Warhol Museum. But, as he’s worked in the same tradition of Pop Art, he’s seen Warhol’s true intentions be obfuscated as we progress past his time. ‘A lot of the sarcasm and satire have been lost in recent years,’ he lamented.”(Cavaluzzo, Alexander. “The Indelible Iconography of Ryan McGinness.” www.bbook.com (August 10, 2015))

“Deitch, in a hyperventilating introduction to a McGinness exhibit, describes him as the creator of a unique world. ‘He has integrated his vocabulary of visual icons into a painting process that merges Andy Warhol’s off-registered silk screens with Jackson Pollock’s web of poured paint,’ he adds. ‘The result can accurately be described as a forest of signs, a compelling integration of mass communications and nature.’”(Morrison, Jim. “Ryan McGinness.” www.pilotonline.com (November 14, 2014))

“Not surprisingly, McGinness worked as a curatorial assistant at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Connections between the two artists are clearly evident.”(Beauty Reigns: A Baroque Sensibility in Recent Painting, McNay Art Museum, USA, 2014, pp. 76, 84-87, 93, 95, 135, 137)

“Ryan McGinness has often been compared to Warhol for his appropri-ation of pop iconography and his meditations on the symbolism of con-temporary commercial imagery. His skillful manipulation of screenprint furthers the comparison. Warhol, however, claimed that all one needed to know about his work was ‘on the surface,’ while McGinness dissects recognizable motifs, transforming them into ambiguous visual language that entices the viewer by suggesting familiar ideograms without directly quoting them.”(Erdos, Elleree. “Ryan McGinness: Fluorescent Body Parts.” Art in Print, Vol. 4, No. 2, July-August, 2014, p. 32)

“They are maximalist pieces with a distinct Warholian influence.”(Zagaria, Kat. “Finding Infinity: A Ryan McGinness Solo Show at Bridgette Mayer.” www.paperclips215.com (October 12, 2013))

“Ryan McGinness revives Andy Warhol’s medium: silkscreen.”(Crow, Kelly. “Ryan McGinness Revives Andy Warhol’s Favorite Medi-um: Silkscreen.” www.wsj.com (June 29, 2012))

“Pittsburgh’s reputation as a nursery for world-class artists is well deserved, not simply for the talent it produces, but for the institutions which nurture it. Artist Ryan McGinness is an alumnus of two of them, having studied at Carnegie Mellon University and serving as a Curatorial Assistant at the Andy Warhol Museum. The ideals they foster—inno-vation, leadership, and a brightly perceived appreciation for the way culture finds expression in the visual arts—are all things which have made him one of the most interesting and successful artists of his generation.”(Myers, Micki. “Ryan McGinness Works (A Lot).” Maniac Magazine, USA, October/November 2011, pp. 42-44)

“It’s hard not to argue that Ryan McGinness has taken a cue from Andy Warhol with his method of creating reproductions. But what differentiates McGinness’s work from Warhol’s is that the concept of reproductions is taken a step further by implementing original variables and creating unique experiences each time. Unlike Warhol, McGinness creates individual symbols by hand, vectorizes them to perfection, and then layers them to create a singular experience within each piece.”(Stephanie. “Go See: Ryan McGinness at Michael Kohn Gallery.” www.platinumcheese.com (June 22, 2011))

“McGinness is best known for graphic vibrant works and silkscreens influenced by advertising design, which have earned numerous com-parisons with Andy Warhol (the series Untitled (Army Men Camouflage) owes and obvious debt to Warhol’s own colorful camouflage works).(____. “Go See—Los Angeles: Ryan McGinness ‘Works on Paper’ at Country Club through July 2nd, 2011.” Art Observed, artobserved.com, June 28, 2011

“He wants to turn a woman into an ‘anonymously created universal sign symbol,’ and erase the evidence of his own hand in the artwork. ‘After Warhol, you must ask yourself if you believe in an artist’s individual human spirit as embodied by the marks he makes, or do you believe in the factory machine model whereby the artist reduces his role to mere art director?’”(Ellison, Victoria. “Warhol’s Spawn.” LA Weekly, USA, Vol. 33, No. 30, June 17-23, 2011, p. 46)

“You can also say he is taking his cue from Andy Warhol, who often comes up as a point of comparison because of his interest in commercial signs and symbols, the silk-screening process, and social networking as an art form—or medium—in its own right.”(Finkel, Jori. “For Ryan McGinness, Art is One Big Party.” LA Times, USA, Volume CXXX, No. 152, May 4, 2011, p. D8-9)

“McGinness, who shows and is collected globally, is often compared to Andy Warhol—the journal Afterimage termed him ‘a Warhol for the in-formation age’—and he acknowledged that Warhol is one of his heroes. He also attracts Warhol-sized adulation.”(Proctor, Roy. “An Info-age Warhol.” Richmond Times Dispatch, USA, April 10, 2011, p. G8)

“While comparisons of his work to that of Warhol surely abound, the true magic of McGinness’s work can be found not where the spotlight shines, but rather the delicate, precise process employed in the studio and at a home drawing table.”(Christiansen, Dan. “Ryan McGinness.” Living Proof, USA, No. 6, 2011, cover, pp. 56-65)

“McGinness, obviously a gifted child, began to formally develop his skills in elementary school, where he painted large-scale reproductions of such masterpieces as Andrew Wyeth’s Christina’s World, Picasso’s Guernica, and Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans for the cafeteria.”(Ozols, Victor. “Studio Visit: Meet Joe Blacklight.” Black Book, USA, Issue 83, April, 2011, pp. 32-33)

“Over the past decade, his art has traveled the globe, a beautiful marriage of color and layered iconic imagery producing a language that speaks across cultures, and establishing his reputation as a 21st century Andy Warhol.”(Morrison, Jim. “The Escape Artists: Ryan McGinness.” Distinction, USA, Vol. 8, Fall, 2010, cover, pp. 73-81)

“Although McGinness brings a high-gloss, nearly Koonsian patina to this gallery-filling installation of prints and sculptures, his obvious godfather is Andy—check out the silver wallpaper flocked with cartoonish jesters, turtles, skulls, and Lord knows what else from this artist’s omnivorous pop imagination.”(Baker, R.C. “Ryan McGinness, God’s Phallus, and Chris Ofili.” Village Voice, USA, villagevoice.com, October 23, 2007)

“McGinness rapidly expanded his output ‘like a benign computer virus’ during the last decade, generating paintings, sculptures, wall murals and books—while continuing to churn out, like a latter-day Andy Warhol or Keith Haring, T-shirts, soccer balls, skateboards and sneakers.”(Dault, Gary Michael. “Silk-screens of a Pop Culture’s Wreckage.” The Globe & Mail, CAN, October 4, 2008, p. R19)

“It’s hard to imagine that anyone could outdo the shock value of Andy Warhol’s famous fright wigs, but painter Ryan McGinness has done just that with the limited edition of wigs he’s created using harvests of his own hair!”(Powers, Bill. “Art: Ryan McGinness.” Purple Fashion Magazine, USA, Vol. 3, Issue 11, Spring/Summer, 2009, pp. 56)

“In 1990, he entered the design program at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where he also took classes in fine art. During this time, McGinness, who cites Warhol as a major influence from early on, also interned at the Andy Warhol Museum as it was being prepared to open to the public.”(Sheets, Hilarie M. “Ballerinas, Unicorns, and Boom Boxes.” Art News, USA, Vol. 106, No. 4, April, 2007, pp. cover, 118-121)

“Ryan McGinness’ work has always played a game of hide and seek with our recognition. His early pieces from the mid and late 1990s channeled Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg but updated their pop aesthetic with a Southern California skater sensibility.”(Neil, Jonathan. “A Bit of What You Fancy: Ryan McGinness.” Art Review, UK, Issue 4, October, 2006, p. 38)

“This is Fine Art, with moves ripped straight from the Duchamp-Warhol playbook.”(Cook, Greg. “A Galaxy Far, Far Away.” The Boston Phoenix, USA, March 24, 2006, p. 23)

“You could say McGinness is a letter-day Andy Warhol. His iconographic imagery is accessible and hot-button. And he deploys commercial strategies to make cutting-edge art.”(McQuaid, Cate. “Brand Identity.” The Boston Globe, USA, March 3, 2006, pp. D5, D20)

“…kind of Andy Warhol meets the Renaissance.”(Mac Alpine, Dan. “Prepare to be Subverted—Mildly.” Beverly Citizen, USA, February 16, 2006, p. 7)

“A Warhol for the information age…”(Hares, Amber. “Noted: Installationview.” Afterimage, USA, March/April, 2006, p. 54)

“In the past decade, McGinness has become an art star, thanks to his Warholian mix of pop iconography and silk-screening.”(____. “Color My World.” The New York Times Style Magazine, USA, Winter 2005)

“Each object is tattooed with a set of icons, a lush pop/abstract visual language (think Warhol crossed with Pollock and Kara Walker) that is at times funny, provocative, and mysterious.”(Berry, Colin. “Installationview.” Print, USA, November/December, 2005, p. 324)

“Much like Warhol, McGinness is known for ‘painting’ by silkscreening with a squeegee.”(Motley, John. “Ryan McGinness.” The Portland Mercury, USA, October 27-November 2, 2005)

“As art continues to move off the canvas and into alternate spaces, making common products collectible, the artist becomes the commodi-ty. Yet there’s something Warholian about artist Ryan McGinness.”(Roberts, Todd C. “McGinness’ Goal.” Res, USA, Vol. 8, No. 4, pp. 39)

“Without ever compromising his artistic viewpoint and denying any limitations set before him, he has cleverly been able to attain respect from both worlds, and has certainly, like Warhol, built bridges to achieve new levels of creative expression.”(Jones, Matt. “Art.” Exit, UK, Issue 10, Spring/Summer, 2005, p. 24)

“His 1999 flatnessisgod, a 256-page manifesto incorporating paintings, type experiments, and logo graffiti, earned the young artist comparisons to Warhol.”(Briggs, Newt. “Culture Watch: Punk Art.” Departures, USA, July/August, 2005, p. 78)

“Ryan McGinness is an artist and former skater punk who, with his graphics-based subversions of corporate iconography, has built a reputa-tion as a Warhol of the 21st century.”(____. “Diary of an Overworked Artist.” Black Book, USA, No. 37, Febru-ary/March, 2005, pp. 101-102)

“Despite his work with Pentagram and other design luminaries, he cites Picasso, Jeff Koons, and Andy Warhol as his favourite designers, which seems witty and strangely accurate.”(Sasnaitis, Jurate. “Ryan McGinness: Project Rainbow.” Poster, Austra-lia, Issue 5, Autumn, 2004, p. 14)

“…a former curatorial assistant at the Andy Warhol Museum, owes something to Warhol’s appreciation for commercial icons.…And Mr. McGinness, like Warhol, sticks to a personal uniform: a white dress shirt over black pants.”(O’Connor, Pauline. “A Night Out with Ryan McGinness.” The New York Times, USA, November 21, 2004, p. ST 4)

“Warhol may has cast the Zeitgeist in his own self-image, declaring our sensibilities ‘board and hyper,’ but McGinness uses hypergraphics and short attention span as a starting point for a leveling of all expressive acts into a unique autographic mark.”(Hunt, David. “Honcho Featured Artist: Ryan McGinness.” Honcho, USA, March, 2001, pp. 75-76)

“…the Andy Warhol of our age. Like Warhol, McGinness continues to dodge classification.”(Hall, Emily. “Ryan McGinness.” The Stranger, USA, Vol. 10, No. 6, January 4, 2001)

“…a Warholesque mixed-media madman”(____. “Eye Candy: flatnessisgod.” Pop Culture 1999, USA, Fall 1999, pp. 4, 14)

“The Gen-X Andy Warhol”(Grant, Angelynn. “Book Reviews: flatnessisgod.” Communication Arts, USA, January/February 2000, p. 178)

“He has been described as a ‘Gen-X Andy Warhol,’”(____. “Samplers: 10 Hot Items.” Gear Magazine, USA, December, 1999, p. 28)