Joan Robbins 1984

This screenprint by Andy Warhol portrays Joan Robbins in flat, graphic blocks of color. Imagine Warhol in his studio, pushing the boundaries of pop art, wrestling with the silkscreen, the squeegee, coaxing the ink to give him the image he desires. Joan’s portrait emerges as a striking icon of the time. Her lips are painted in a luscious red; her eyes are outlined in an electric blue that pops against her pale skin. The hair is rendered in warm shades of orange. It's like Warhol is playing with the idea of celebrity, beauty, and artificiality. I imagine him thinking about the power of repetition, and the way that images can be mass-produced and distributed. Warhol was always in dialogue with other artists like Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, who also explored the intersection of art and popular culture. What they all share is that urge to capture something about their time.