Rare Warhol artwork on display in Nottingham

Rare works by widely-regarded pop artist and filmmaker, Andy Warhol, have gone on display in Nottingham. Lakeside Arts Gallery’s new Pop Icon exhibition is showcasing rarely-seen pieces alongside famous works by the American artist renowned for his Pop Art style.

Warhol's Pop Art features iconic faces including Marilyn Monroe

A leading figure in the Pop Art movement, Warhol’s works often explored the relationship between consumerism and mass media, and celebrity culture, by transforming familiar products such as Heinz Soup or icons such as Marilyn Monroe into artworks that are instantly recognisable as Warhol today.

His studio, the Factory, became a hub for those from the queer community and those experiementing with avant-garde; bringing together drag queens, poets, bohemians, musicians, and wealthy patrons. His filmmaking also featured a shifting group of personalities, including names such as Candy Darling, and Jayne County, known as the Warhol superstars.

Ashley Gallant, head of visual arts for Nottingham’s Lakeside Arts Gallery, said it was important to showcase work that "changed art forever" normally only hung in London.

Gallant said: "I feel immensely proud and privileged to work on this show. I grew up in a situation where I couldn't get to London, we couldn't travel, it was my local gallery that really ignited my passion in arts.

"It's just so exciting to have a show of such a famous artist and to be able to provide that for the people of Nottingham," Gallant adds. "His work is so iconic, I think a lot of the time we don't even realise it comes from Warhol.

"So much of what's around us comes from his drawings, his illustrations, his prints and it's just become kind of ubiquitous everywhere, and actually seeing this exhibition and seeing the breadth of his career you realise that he started so much of it off and he changed art forever."

Works curated for the Nottingham Pop Icon exhibition have been loaned from the Artist Rooms national collection, and the showcase is a partnership with TATE and National Galleries of Scotland. The works include screenprints of the likes of Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor, his iconic American consumerism works, and lesser-known pieces including rarely seen early drawings and illustrations from the 1950s, paintings from the 1980s never exhibited in his lifetime, and lesser-known ‘stitched photographs’ which were the focus of his last exhibition before his death. The exhibition marks a rare opportunity for many, particularly those outside of London, to view the works.

Ceri Lewis, senior curator at Artist Rooms, said: "For conservation purposes those works are quite fragile, so they aren't shown that often.

"You may think you know Warhol. Come see the show. You may not know Warhol, come see the show."

The exhibition will be on display at the University Park venue’s Djanogly Gallery until Sunday 19th April. Booking is essential. Tickets cost £6, with concession prices available.