Andy Warhol: a multifaceted exhibition in Biella for the Pop Art icon

The encounter with iconic images and nostalgic Polaroids, distant elegances and unexpected textures is in Biella, between Palazzo Gromo Losa and Palazzo Ferrero, where Andy Wharol's universe is offered in a multifaceted way among silkscreens, photos, magazines, vinyl covers, ceramics, posters and, for the first time in Italy, about 50 original dresses, fabrics and drawings from the Fashion & Textile Museum in London. And in the latter case, it is an unmissable collection, providing a truly little-known aspect of the artist's activity, which right from the very beginning, with the clothes 'set' with prints of ice cream cones, fruit, various sweets and all the household utensils, already presents in nuce much of the characteristics of his future poetics. Because the protean flair of the father of Pop Art, who was illustrator and designer, artist and filmmaker, collector and glamour icon, after many rather predictable representations, disrupting established hierarchies and categories, finally finds in this exhibition a path capable of narrating his multiform creativity in its entirety.

Marvelous and unmissable Polaroids made between 1972 and 1975 by the artist, instant narratives capable of fixing forever a world that was. They feature Paloma Picasso, Mick Jagger, Marisa Berenson, Bianca Jagger, Jack Nicholson, Tony Curtis, Rudolph Nurejev and Warhol himself, portrayed in snapshots that oscillate between confession and pose. It is a true visual diary of friendships and obsessions that restores the intimacy of the Factory.

The famous New York studio of the Factory comes back to life in a section of the exhibition at Palazzo Ferrero with a scenographic reconstruction of what was at once the workshop, stage, theatre and creative refuge of an entire generation. Conceived by Warhol not only as a studio but as a meeting and metamorphosis space, the Factory became an epicentre of contamination and worldliness, frequented by absolute protagonists of the 20th century - from Lou Reed to Mick Jagger, from Truman Capote to Salvador Dalí and Allen Ginsberg.

The heart of the exhibition is therefore occupied by the silkscreens, among which the iconic "Campbell's Soup", the "Flowers", "Mao" and finally no less than 10 "Marilyn" made in the famous "Sunday B. Morning" edition, testify to the idea of a serial, democratic and replicable art, in which repetition does not annul but multiplies the value of the image. Warhol transforms a technique considered minor into a cultured language, capable of contaminating painting, graphics and advertising.

The "Andy Warhol and Italy" room hosts two silkscreens from the "Vesuvius" series (1985) from Intesa Sanpaolo's Gallerie d'Italia, alongside a portrait of Joan Collins. The works celebrate the artist's deep connection with Italy, where, from the 1970s onwards, Warhol found inspiration and recognition. Naples, Rome, Milan and Venice were crucial stages in his career, as was his relationship with gallery owner Lucio Amelio, who invited him in 1980 for the "Terrae Motus" project after the Irpinia earthquake. The 'Vesuvius' series, created in 1985 for the exhibition at the Capodimonte Museum, reflects that intense dialogue with Italy.