This exhibition takes its theme from a much-quoted remark by Andy Warhol: “I want to be a machine”. Behind Warhol’s seemingly facetious quip was the serious belief that art would become increasingly mechanised.
This exhibition examines Warhol’s and Paolozzi’s work, showing how they captured images from photography and advertisements. Warhol traced his images while Paolozzi used collage, until they both turned to screenprinting in the early 1960s to transform photographs into prints.
The exhibition includes rarely seen drawings by Warhol from the 1950s, as well as his famous multi-coloured prints of Marilyn Monroe and a group of recently acquired ‘stitched’ photographs. Works by Paolozzi include some of his early proto-Pop collages from the early 1950s and his kaleidoscopically-coloured prints from the 60s and 70s.