Skulls #1 1976

Here's a script for an audio guide about Andy Warhol's Skulls #1. Andy Warhol made this print of a skull using screen printing, ink and paper. It’s all blocks of color, and then this very loose, scribbly line drawing on top. Looking at it, I just imagine Warhol in his studio, stacking colors, one on top of the other, slightly off-register. I wonder what he was thinking about when he made it. Maybe, 'How can I make something so morbid as a skull look bright, cool, and well...Warholian?' I'm drawn to that neon-green section smack in the center. It’s kind of sickly but also electrifying! And the way he lets the ink bleed and smudge, it adds this layer of imperfection, which makes the piece feel so alive, so human. Warhol's skulls bring to mind those Vanitas paintings from the Dutch Golden Age, but twisted through a pop art lens. It’s like he's saying, "Yeah, death is out there, but let's make it fabulous, baby!" Artists always bounce ideas off of each other like that, and each one leaves their mark, like Warhol did, in his own cool way.