Big Electric Chair 1967 - 1968

Andy Warhol made this Big Electric Chair, and what strikes me first is its color – these swathes of blue, green, and pink that feel almost off-key. It’s like he’s approaching a really dark subject with a strangely upbeat palette. You can almost smell the silkscreen ink when you look at this piece, and it feels so physical. The texture isn’t just on the surface; it feels embedded, almost like the image is fighting to get out. The way he layers the colors, letting them bleed and overlap, it’s almost like he’s obscuring as much as revealing. Look at the way the chair itself is kind of ghostly, a faded memory, or a bad dream. Warhol's electric chair reminds me of Francis Bacon's screaming popes, or even Goya's dark visions – artists who weren't afraid to confront the uncomfortable. What Warhol leaves us with is an unsettling piece, where beauty and horror sit side by side.