‘Gay icon’ Andy Warhol exhibition in Saudi Arabia an unlikely pairing in a country that criminalises homosexuality
- Exhibition organisers have tried to draw a connection between the world Andy Warhol embodied – New York half a century ago – and Saudi Arabia today
- Critics accuse the show of ‘arts-washing’ – the use of cultural programming to distract from human rights abuses – but Warhol’s nephew says this misses the mark
Andy Warhol’s portraits of stars such as Marlon Brando and Dolly Parton are on display in the Saudi desert, at a show intended to reframe the kingdom’s forbidding reputation.
The first exhibition in Saudi Arabia for the Pop Art giant is a tribute to the late artist’s obsession with celebrity, and his seeming ability to predict the rise of contemporary influencer culture.
At the same time, organisers have tried to draw a connection between the world Warhol embodied – New York half a century ago – and Saudi Arabia today.
“Warhol grew up through a time of radical change in America in the 1950s and 1960s, a time of a completely new vibrant youth culture, and he recorded that and reflected that,” said Sumantro Ghose, arts programming director in Al-’Ula, the Saudi town hosting the exhibition.
“Right now in Saudi Arabia, we’re in a time of great change, great transformation,” he added.
It would be hard to imagine a more unlikely ambassador for the new Saudi Arabia, where a burgeoning arts and music scene exists alongside harsh repression of political speech and the criminalisation of homosexuality.
