Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA) is pleased to present Andy Warhol: Cowboys and Indians, featuring works by the legendary artist that portray iconic Western images, and Billy Schenck: Myth of the West, by the contemporary artist who founded the Western Pop movement. The exhibit runs through March 19, 2022.
Andy Warhol is considered the undisputed leader of American Pop art, a movement characterized by artists’ use of household items, advertising images, other “low” art forms, and commercial printing techniques in an effort to democratize art. Cowboys and Indians was Warhol’s last project before his death in 1987.
Warhol inspired many artists including Billy Schenck, one of the original founders of Western Pop art. With his signature reductivist style, Schenck transformed traditional Western images from a realist’s replica of detail into flat, sharply defined, simplified areas of color and stylized patterns. This retrospective of the artist’s work showcases 26 pieces in his distinctive style.
“We could not be more honored to bring the work of Warhol and Schenck to southern Utah,” said Jessica Kinsey, Executive Director of SUMA. “Simply put, Warhol is an icon and Schenck is perpetuating the pop art movement through Western Pop and remaining authentic to who he is: a cowboy.”
The Warhol and Schenck exhibits are complementary to each other. Organized by the Briscoe Western Art Museum, Andy Warhol: Cowboys and Indians explores how the father of American pop art highlighted classic Western archetypes and called attention to myths of the American West in his colorful, iconic style. Schenck’s work shows why he is considered the “Warhol of the West.”
Through a growing partnership between SUMA and Modern West Fine Art, an exhibition in Salt Lake City will run simultaneously and features 19 new paintings by Billy Schenck featuring Utah landscapes. This is Schenck’s first-ever landscape-only exhibition.
For more information visit SUMA’s website at suu.edu/suma. Admission to SUMA is free.