Andy Warhol (1928-87), one of the best known and influential artists of the 20th century is primarily associated with graphic design. Everyone knows his famous prints with Campbell canned tomato soup or the image of Marylin Monroe.
Less known is the fact that prior to becoming a celebrity artist, Warhol established a successful career as textile print designer. Cobra Museum of Modern Art in Amstelveen has curated a unique exhibition, Andy Warhol. The Textiles, in collaboration with the Fashion and Textile Museum in London. Warhol’s textiles share the floor with another exhibition curated by Cobra Museum itself, Wilde Roken. Cobra Art as Textile. https://cobra-museum.nl/tentoonstelling/andy-warhol-the-textiles/?lang=en , https://cobra-museum.nl/tentoonstelling/wilde-rokken/?lang=en
The exhibitions complement each other perfectly. Both focus on the same period, the 1950s and 1960s and showcase how the aesthetics of that era were applied to fabric design by renowned artists.
The collection of Warhol’s textiles includes about 60 objects, some finished clothes, dresses, skirts, tops or scarves as well as rolls of fabrics. His unique style is clearly recognizable here. Fascination with repetitions, bright colours, playful use of everyday objects like buttons, pens and paint brushes, apples, perfume bottles, ice cream cons or brooms. Due to the rhythmical repetitions, they were transformed into humorous decorative pattern, very different from conventional floral or abstract motives, but perfectly tuned with the commercial fashion world of the time. The inspiration came from the world around him, elevating his textiles to an art form. His designs were printed on cotton, silk and polyester, many of them produced anonymously and brought back to the spotlight only recently which makes the discovery more exciting. The fabrics were used to make ready to wear, affordable, everyday clothes.
The accompanying exhibition Wilde Rokken which translates into English as Wild Skirts, explores the post war years in Dutch design history. Cobra movement artists were asked to apply their art for clothing and interior textiles in the form of repetitive motifs. Creators like Constant, Corneille, Anton Rooskens and Karel Appel contributed to an inspiring encounter of mid century avant garde art, industry and everyday life.
Same era, same challenge but the difference between the two exhibition is instantly visible. While Andy Warhol’s designs are repeated, realistic objects against plain background, in Wilde Rokken, the forms are mostly abstract. They often fill in the whole space leaving no room for the background. In this respect they resemble horror vacui (Latin for fear of empty space), a stylistic approach driven by the desire to fill an entire surface with intricate detail.
Despite criticism they evoked, the fabrics were commercially successful. Their dynamic, expressive designs suited women who gained more freedom in the 1950s and 1960s, both socially and in the sense of self expression.
Textiles offer a different approach to art: intimate, tangible and dynamic. They bring the maker and the wearer into direct contact. This was of great significance to Cobra artists, for whom collaboration and experimentation were so important – says the exhibit introduction.
Both exhibitions will be open until 6th September 2026.
