SOUP
COMMISSIONED BY KARL KOPP
The piece references the breakthrough work of Andy Warhol (1928 -1987) in the early 60's. He was doing paintings of cartoons until he saw the more polished work of Roy Lichtenstein. Warhol asked his friend Muriel Latow, "Muriel, you've got fabulous ideas. Can you give me one?" She said," Paint things people see every day like cans of soup." He sent his mom to the supermarket to buy one of each and she came back with 32 Campbell's varieties. At first they were hand painted, later, along with coke bottles, $100 bills and celebrities he silk screened them from photos or magazine ads. He took the idea of art in an age of mechanical reproduction to its logical extreme breaching the wall between fine art and commerce. When he was asked in a television interview why he had copied an ordinary object instead of doing something original he responded, "um... because it's easier." In 2009 his Eight Elvis's canvas sold for $100 million. The only other artists of the 20th century that might share the podium as equally influential are Picasso and Duchamp.
COMMISSIONED BY KARL KOPP
The piece references the breakthrough work of Andy Warhol (1928 -1987) in the early 60's. He was doing paintings of cartoons until he saw the more polished work of Roy Lichtenstein. Warhol asked his friend Muriel Latow, "Muriel, you've got fabulous ideas. Can you give me one?" She said," Paint things people see every day like cans of soup." He sent his mom to the supermarket to buy one of each and she came back with 32 Campbell's varieties. At first they were hand painted, later, along with coke bottles, $100 bills and celebrities he silk screened them from photos or magazine ads. He took the idea of art in an age of mechanical reproduction to its logical extreme breaching the wall between fine art and commerce. When he was asked in a television interview why he had copied an ordinary object instead of doing something original he responded, "um... because it's easier." In 2009 his Eight Elvis's canvas sold for $100 million. The only other artists of the 20th century that might share the podium as equally influential are Picasso and Duchamp.
After an initial concept sketch we mock up the piece with our model.
The goop on her head is silicone. Her open mouth wasn't planned.
We used a snorkel so she could breathe while we cast her head and liked the oddity of it.
You've got to go into some kind of Zen zone to put up with the feeling of being smothered alive. It's even worse when you're trying to breathe through two little straws in your nose. I have allergies, count me out.
We emptied the cans (pop tops in 1959?), filled them with form, removed the labels and resealed them.
This is before we apply ferric nitrate, heat the figure and spray on bleach. I thought about having all the spoons in her mouth but didn’t think the diners would enjoy the view with their meals.
This is where it goes, in the window of Hanny’s downtown. It’s one of Karl’s restaurants. The server’s name is Kelsey. She’s very nice and stood on our concrete piece for a test. The soup piece will be joined by other figures and silk screened paintings in a window display tableau referencing the influential women (his mom, Valerie Solanas, Edie Sedgwick and Muriel Latow) in Warhol’s life.
If you want to check the place out it’s at 40 S. First Ave. on the west side, just south of Van Buren in Phoenix.
