Secular icons and the burger as sacrament?

On Thursday 5 May Paul Sweetman took part in an evening panel discussion entitled ‘No, well, I don’t know …’ at the John Hansard Gallery, University of Southampton, which focused on Andy Warhol’s work and artistic persona, and was one of a series of public events taking place alongside a major new exhibition of Warhol’s work at the John Hansard Gallery and the City Art Gallery, Southampton, until 26 June 2011. The main themes of the panel discussion were Warhol’s use of repetition, his forms of self-presentation, and the place of the Factory in the production of Warhol’s work. In exploring these issues, Paul Sweetman focused particularly on the tension between Warhol’s avowed superficiality, and the actual depth of his involvement and engagement with popular cultural forms. The event was organized by artist Zoha Zokaei, and the other panelist were Tom Dale, Anglia Ruskin University, Thomas J Morgan Evans, UCL, and Professor Christopher Janaway, University of Southampton. For further details, see the John Hansard Gallery website