Andy Warhol’s “Shadows” (1978–79) returns to New York City this October, marking a homecoming for the monumental work that was first presented by Dia in the city in 1979. A single painting in multiple parts, “Shadows” is one of Warhol’s most abstract works, yet one that cohesively synthesizes key elements of his practice, including film, painting, photography, and screenprinting. On view October 26 through December 15, 2018, at 205 West 39th Street, a street-front space in Calvin Klein, Inc.’s headquarters, the installation surrounds the viewer with a series of canvases, presented edge to edge around the perimeter of the room in conformity with Warhol’s original vision. Following its New York presentation, the work will reopen as a long-term installation at Dia:Beacon in Beacon, New York, in 2019.
Exhibited concurrently with the retrospective “Andy Warhol — From A to B and Back Again” at the Whitney Museum of American Art, “Shadows” will be animated by a series of public programs and a publication of essays by contemporary artists on Warhol, the third book in Dia’s Artists on Artists Lecture Series. “Shadows,” which recently completed an extensive international tour, has not been exhibited in New York City since 1998–99, when Dia presented it in its former Chelsea location. The presentation and conservation of the work, which is currently occurring at Dia:Beacon this summer, have been made possible by CALVIN KLEIN.
“Andy Warhol was among the original group of artists championed by Dia in the 1970s, and the depth and duration of the relationship led to Dia’s acquisition of over two hundred works by the artist as well as the eventual gift in the 1990s of the majority of these works for the creation of the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh. One of Warhol’s most enigmatic works, “Shadows” became an iconic part of Dia’s collection when it was first shown in 1979. The presentation of this work provides a rare opportunity to fully appreciate the remarkable use of seriality and difference in his practice,” said Jessica Morgan, Dia’s Nathalie de Gunzburg Director. “This exhibition marks the first time in twenty years that visitors will be able to experience the work in New York City, where it made its debut, before it returns to Dia:Beacon. Placed within the broader context of Dia’s programming and the creative continuum of Warhol’s work on view at the Whitney, we hope this presentation will shed new light on one of the artist’s most complex and remarkable works.”
“Shadows” is presented concurrently with the Whitney Museum of American Art’s retrospective “Andy Warhol — From A to B and Back Again,” which explores the extensive breadth and depth of Warhol’s career. On view from November 12, 2018, to March 31, 2019, “Andy Warhol — From A to B and Back Again” will travel to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in Spring 2019 and the Art Institute of Chicago in Fall 2019. For more information about “Shadows” at Dia, please visit www.diaart.org.
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