The Electric Chair (pink and green), from the “Portfolio of Ten Screenprints”

Description

Andy Warhol was one of the primary figures associated with the Pop Art movement, which drew its subject matter from contemporary society and popular culture. His famous images of Campbell Soup cans, Brillo boxes, and Marilyn Monroe were produced by use of the silkscreen process. This process removed the feeling of the artist’s hand and made the image seem more an advertisement, an advertisement for icons of the society.
A work such as The Electric Chair stems from his so-called "disaster" series of images, which include paintings depicting car crashes, lynchings, and suicides. Images of Marilyn Monroe, who died an early death, and Jackie Kennedy in mourning also demonstrate Warhol’s interest in this subject matter. Pulling his images from magazine and newspaper sources, his work makes the viewer think about how mass media heightens these tragic happenings for its own ends and how no one in popular urban society can escape these images and their influence on everyday life.
Sean M. Ulmer, University Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, for "A Matter of Degree: Abstraction in Twentieth-Century Art," November 10, 2001 - January 27, 2002