Grapes #5 1979

Andy Warhol, born Andrew Warhola, made "Grapes #5," a vibrant screen print, sometime during his Pop Art period. Warhol, an openly gay man, navigated a society still grappling with LGBTQ+ rights. Here, the often-gendered still life gets a Pop Art makeover. The grapes, traditionally symbolizing abundance and luxury, are rendered in bold, flat colors – pinks, blues, and browns clash and combine on the canvas. This challenges the traditional artistic hierarchies that Warhol often subverted by elevating everyday objects to high art. Warhol once said, "If you want to know all about Andy Warhol, just look at the surface of my paintings and films and me; there I am. There’s nothing behind it.” But this seemingly simple statement belies the complex layers of identity and commentary present in his work. "Grapes #5" is a reflection of the society in which it was created, one that was obsessed with celebrity, consumerism, and surface appearances, but also quietly subversive in its bold simplicity and playful deconstruction of traditional artistic norms.