In Andy Warhol’s Ads portfolio of 1985, the viewer is invited to appreciate an advert as a work of art. Here, Warhol revisits his work in commercial illustration from the early 1950s, appropriating iconic brands, logos and images as subjects. Each image is rendered in a vibrant palette that encapsulates the artist's Pop vision. Warhol's selection of images for Ads embodied some of the most powerful corporations in America at the time, such as Mobilgas, Paramount Pictures, Disney, and Apple Computer, Inc. While others, such as Volkswagen, Chanel, and Blackglama represent some of the most ingenious marketing campaigns in advertising history.
Warhol embraced the advancing technology of computers in the mid-1980s. In 1984 the artist was introduced to the computer by Apple founder Steve Jobs, who brought a Macintosh to the 9th birthday party of Sean Lennon, son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. That year, the first Apple Macintosh computer had been introduced to the American public via a storied television commercial titled ‘1984’, which was directed by Ridley Scott and aired during the Super Bowl XVIII. So while Warhol’s selection of Apple for the portfolio feels prescient due to the brand’s iconic status in the present day, this positioning was also apt due to the profile of its advertisement campaign at the time.
