Exhibition: June 10, 2017 through October 29, 2017
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, illustrator James Warhola was influenced as a child by his artistic family-especially his famous uncle, Pop artist-Andy Warhol. From an early age, he watched his uncle create illustrations for shoes, shopping bags, and advertisements, which piqued his interest in the world of art.
Like Andy Warhol, Warhola attended Tam O’Shanter’s Saturday Art Classes at the Carnegie Museum of Art, and graduated from Carnegie Mellon University. A move to New York City brought him to the Art Students League, where he refined his painting skills and set out to establish a career as a freelance illustrator. First specializing in science fiction and fantasy illustration, Warhola has since created artworks for more than three-hundred-fifty book jackets, including Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein and Neuromancer by William Gibson. In 1987, he accepted his first of thirty-five children’s book commissions, a path that offered new opportunities for expression. Warhola been a regular contributor to Mad magazine since 1980, and has been a primary illustrator for the popular Garbage Pail Kids card series.
This special compendium exhibition to Inventing America: Rockwell and Warhol explores Warhola’s outstanding career as a science fiction, fantasy, and children’s book artist, including original illustrations for his acclaimed picture books, Uncle Andy’s: A Faabbbulous Visit with Andy Warhol, and Uncle Andy’s Cats, which document his memorable family gatherings.