In Warhol's Statue Of Liberty

Other than the shapes that I have previously analyzed in the Statue of Liberty, the method of screen printing has created some sections of unpainted linen. These sections are seen especially in the top row of the prints in which nearly a ninety-degree right triangle forms along the right side of the statue. Another section is seen in the third row as well; an organic or unidentifiable shape is seen (one could interpret it as a rough mountain range). Within each rectangle, the light illuminates the ocean and the statue, exemplifying the work’s three dimensions. The values of colors within the repeated print varies among each rectangle, being very foggy in some shapes and incredibly distinct in others. The face of Andy’s Statue of Liberty fluctuates among being distinctly identifiable, partially identifiable, and completely masked from rectangle to rectangle. This piece as a
whole causes the viewer’s eyes to constantly move and shift along the painting. The painting yields unity because the statue is completely fixed; whether we as viewers can see what’s happening within the rectangles or not, everyone can make it out to be the Statue of Liberty. The vanishing and movement of the cloud provides the image’s pattern its variety. If the purpose of having symmetrical balance is to communicate order, then Warhol’s piece is somewhat unbalanced due to the napkin and tissue box-like effect I had described previously. Even though the red paint located on the upper right hand corner of the painting works to balance the significantly empty area on the left, it only balances it to a certain point, therefore I would not view this piece as asymmetrically balanced. The organic shape that masks the face of the statue could be used to either put emphasis or take away from her face and/or her torch. However, I think that we as viewers are not meant to care about her face as much; I think that it’s important to realize that she is masked or distinctively identifiable in many different ways in a random, fluctuating fashion. I’ve seen the Statue of Liberty in person before and it is massive, but in Warhol’s work, the prints are shown in a small, miniscule scale (compared to the actual statue) and are then replicated twelve times. The sizes of the rectangles are all proportionate to one another and the movement of the organic shape hovering above the statue brings out a rhythm that encompasses the painting all together. This very iconic painting was one of the most powerful Pop Art pieces to be presented during the 1960s, let alone one of the most historic pieces Warhol himself has ever come to auction (Rosenburg para. 17). Never failing to test the boundaries of art, Andy’s Statue of Liberty evolved as a leading example of the first kind of three dimensional painting. While he was in college, Warhol discovered the blotted-line technique. He would stick two pieces on paper together, drawing ink on one page and pressing the two pieces of paper together before the ink would dry (Rosenburg para. 24).
However, this process was too time consuming. To speed up the process and transfer the images more efficiently, he turned to silk screening. This process uses an intricately prepared portion of silk as the stencil which would then provide one silk-screen to make alike patterns several times. He incorporated this new technique into his works when he had decided to make himself a Pop artist. Pop art was a new shift of art that came about during the mid 1950s; it was made up of realistic interpretations of popular, everyday objects (Osterwold T. pg. 12). Warhol’s Statue of Liberty is a fine example of Pop art; just by taking a glance at the image, the piece can be easily recognized for what it is.
In Warhol’s Statue of Liberty, the principles of design and visual elements work together to describe the symbolism and meaning seen in the Immigration of America.
I think that the multiple rectangles in his piece stands for the fluctuating experiences that immigrants have when coming to America, and the motion seen in the organic shape above the statue signifies the contrasts among these immigrants’ experiences. The empty area on the left portion of the piece that denotes that the supreme America—the same America that migrants wish to come to—is really not all that spectacular. In shorter words, this painting symbolizes the significant vision that falls short from truth or reality. Andy has coiled the size of the Statue of Liberty, copied it twelve times, and gave each repetition its own hard and gritty looking texture. The organic blobs masking the statue in some sections of the painting was a result of his silk-screening technique. These blobs give the painting a quality of ambiguity. This ambiguity leads to the notion that the widespread impression of immigration to America is
inclusive.