Knives 1982

Andy Warhol made ‘Knives’ as a screenprint, and it's all about color, repetition, and maybe a little bit of danger. Warhol takes these everyday objects and repeats them, forcing us to really look. He’s making a commentary on the mass production of images and objects, but also playing with how we perceive them. The color palette is what grabs you first, right? These bold, almost clashing colors against the stark black background make the knives pop, like they're jumping off the surface. I love the way that each knife has a slightly different texture, some are smooth, some are patchy. There is an area with a little smudge on the edge of the pink knife at the top, so simple, so evocative. Warhol’s work has a deep connection to Duchamp’s idea of the “readymade,” in that art could be anything that an artist chose to present as art. Like Jasper Johns said, “Take an object. Do something to it. Do something else to it.”