Andy Warhol, the patriarchy of all things Pop Art, was in exhibition at Tate Liverpool over the past four months. Being a huge fan, I couldn’t let those psychedelic screen prints leave without having seen them first. Obviously the art itself was utterly spectacular, but the exposition itself left me feeling strangely underwhelmed.

When one of the most prestigious collections of art comes to a gallery -especially one with the financial resources of the Tate- you expect more effort to be made than just hanging the frames on a white wall. The Tate squandered so much artistic possibility by failing to cease the opportunity offered to them in having this amazing collection in their space. They could have transformed the top floor into the real post-modern experience, but they didn’t – maybe they didn’t want to distract from the art itself but in Warhol’s own words, “Art is what you can get away with.”

When one of the most prestigious collections of art comes to a gallery, you expect more effort to be made than just hanging the frames on a white wall

It wasn’t just the lack of creativity on the Tate’s part that was disappointing, but there was also very little continuity across the hall. At the entrance we were met with full-on Pop Art action but moving through the room we came to Warhol’s less popular, more commercial pieces which were interesting, but were unable to maintain the wow factor sparked by the Campbell’s soup tins in the first room. Essentially, the art was given to us too quickly, meaning observers left with a rather “that was good” attitude, far less than a Warhol exhibition deserves.

One room however was managed  very well: Warhol’s Exploding Plastic Inevitable event. The room had been recreated to resemble what one of Andy’s multimedia events would have looked like in the sixties. The matt-black walls and velveteen carpet had videos of the actual events projected onto them, whilst a big disco ball span in time to a Velvet Underground album, and it’s sad that the exhibition organisers hadn’t maintained this creativity across the gallery.

Seeing the Marilyns, Brillo Boxes and Campbell’s Soup tins for real cannot be overshadowed

Obviously, Warhol’s work was spectacular, and I even discovered a new, personal favourite from his collection, a piece called Empire which is an eight-hour, single frame film of the Empire State building at night. It is especially impressive because Andy was the first to use film as a form of art; Empire was one of the earliest endeavours in this field which is now so popular amongst contemporary artists. Warhol’s only comment on the film was; “When nothing happens you have the chance to think about everything” which, I think, sums up his approach to art perfectly. The real art he produced is not what is seen but what is felt by the viewer.

The Tate’s apathy and general lack of creative vision towards the exhibition is disappointing, but seeing the Marilyns, Brillo Boxes and Campbell’s Soup tins for real cannot be overshadowed; they could have been propped up against the bins on the Albert Dock and on-lookers still would have been impressed.

Cameron Tallant

Image: www.tate.org.uk