Raf Simons, the chief creative officer of Calvin Klein, is a bit obsessed with Andy Warhol, and it’s proven to be a very good thing for both shoppers and pop art fans. It was last December that Simons announced the partnership of Calvin Klein with the Andy Warhol Foundation, and some of Warhol’s lesser-known work was referenced in the designer’s 2013 collection for Christian Dior.
Now, Calvin Klein will be hosting an exhibition at its NYC headquarters of Warhol’s newly restored Shadows (1978-1979) series of paintings, organized by Dia. The label said this would be “the first time nearly half of the 102 panels are displayed at once in two decades.”
The paintings feature the pop artist’s signature use of dynamic color blurred by broad black strokes. The panels were restored during a 9-month process at Dia:Beacon. “Andy Warhol: Shadows” will be open to the public from October 26 to December 15.
In an interview with the New York Times, Simons talked about why Warhol was the perfect fit for not just Calvin Klein, but for our strange political and social times.
“I liked the idea of connecting an American major brand to an American major artist, whose body of work spoke about things very relevant to Calvin Klein,” he said in the interview. “I knew Calvin had links with artists, but the names that always came up were Donald Judd, Dan Flavin — minimalists, because he was a minimalist. Andy Warhol stood in the middle of the contemporary environment. In his approach, his vision, his obsession with superstars and famous people, his sense of commercial product, he was very democratic. Calvin is very democratic.”
Photo from: Getty Images