The Scream 1984

This screenprint, ‘The Scream,’ was made by Andy Warhol, who died in 1987. Warhol was fascinated by the capacity of serial production to both cheapen and elevate images. Here, he takes on a potent symbol of existential angst, and renders it in the simplified, repeatable language of commercial printing. Notice how the image is built up of flat, distinct color fields. This is achieved by using stencils to apply layers of ink to the paper surface. Warhol was interested in how mass production could level cultural experience. A scream, once singular, becomes just another product in his hands. But there's also a kind of pathos in this. By treating Edvard Munch’s iconic image with such casualness, he encourages us to consider how even our deepest emotions can be commodified and consumed. This challenges distinctions between fine art and craft, high and low culture, and the individual versus the industrial.