Andy Warhol
FIPS MOUSE, 1983
Synthetic polymer paint and silkscreen ink on canvas
Signed and dated on the reverse synthetic polymer paint and silkscreen ink on canvas
7 7/8 x 10 1/4 in
20.1 x 25.9 cm
Available at Surovek Gallery
Happy Holidays!
Here is a look at some serene and joyful works that will add Holiday Cheer for years to come:
Andy Warhol. Fips Mouse, 1983
Andy Warhol (1928-1987) was a collector. He collected watches, cameras…and toys. His Toy Painting series focused on the packaging of the toys, and not on the toys themselves.
The works were first exhibited in Zurich, by art dealer Bruno Bischofberger. The hand-painted and silkscreened works were displayed at child-height. Adults had to crouch down or squat to view the works. By focusing on the pictures on the box, Warhol continued to demonstrate the power of advertising and packaging on desire.
The Fips Wustenspringmaus was originally manufactured in East Germany, during the Cold War, when the Berlin Wall separated East from West and American troops were stationed at the wall to help keep West Berliners safe. The Wall came down in 1989, six years after Warhol's Fips Mouse was created.
Wolf Kahn. Menemsha, c.1971
Wolf Kahn (1927-2020) painted beautiful, color-drenched landscapes. He and his wife, artist Emily Mason, had a home and studio in Brattleboro, Vermont. Many of Kahn’s studies were done there or, like Menemsha, were done at Martha’s Vineyard and other settings.
“Landscape paintings, of all representational modes, is freest of constraints. It can be sloppy, you can use color in imaginative ways, and just go out and do what needs to be done. Besides which, I think it deals with very large issues; it deals with the overarching abstractions that govern our perception,” Kahn said in a talk for the Forum Network.
Ironically, Kahn completed most of his paintings in his Manhattan studio. "The environment in which my paintings grow best is at Broadway and 12th Street." he said. "I can see nature most clearly in my studio, undistracted by trees and skies. Art being emotion recollected in tranquility, I constantly find Nature too emotional, and Broadway very tranquil.”
Jonas Wood. Untitled, 2014
Jonas Wood (b. 1977) finds inspiration at home and in the works of his wife, ceramicist Shio Kusaka.
Wood loves basketballs, which he often includes in his work, and poker, which he plays with friends, but most often focuses on the rooms he inhabits, the objects in those rooms and, sometimes, the views out the windows.
“There are always new things I want to paint about, but there's a lot I still keep coming back to,” he said.
In September, a painting by Wood broke an auction record for the artist at Christie’s, exceeding its $2-4million estimate and selling for $6.5 million.
Sam Gilliam. See Through #3, 1997
Sam Gilliam (1933-2022) was born in Mississippi and raised in Kentucky. When his wife, Dorothy Butler, became the first African-American woman to be offered a job as reporter for The Washington Post, the couple moved to Washington, D.C.
Gilliam never left D.C. and became known as the "dean" of the city's arts community.
His works are in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian, the National Gallery, the Hirshhorn Museum, National Museum of African American History and Culture and other major venues around the world.
Works by many other of our favorite artists, like Scott Kelley, Derrick Adams, Andrew Brischler, Julian Opie, Hunt Slonem, Alex Katz and Loie Hollowell are available at Surovek Gallery.
For inquiries, please contact Clay Surovek at (561) 655-2665 or clay@surovekgallery.com.
