Diamond Dust Shoe 1980

Andy Warhol made this shoe, sparkling against the black, and what I see is the sheer joy of image-making. The stenciled shoe shimmers, kind of floating in space. I think Warhol was an artist who understood how to bring together the readymade and the handmade. I mean, think of it: that’s the history of painting in the twentieth century in a nutshell! Here, it's about the combination of screen printing and maybe even collage, all that gorgeous diamond dust. Imagine him in his studio, spreading glue, sprinkling diamond dust, and then maybe even vacuuming up the excess! There’s something about the texture that makes me want to touch it, to see if I can pick up the residue of the image. It's like he's reminding us that paintings aren't just pictures, but things. I feel as though I'm in conversation with Warhol, and all the other painters who’ve ever thought about how to put an image on a surface.