Independent creative company BarkelyOKRP has partnered with New York-based fashion photographer James Emmerman to create a campaign celebrating 30 years of the Andy Warhol Museum. And it’s desperate for you to like it.
Pop art icon Andy Warhol is famous for his comments about the fleeting nature of fame, so it would surely come as some reassurance to him that the museum built in honour of his work has recently turned 30. To mark the special occasion, its exceptional collection of Warhol art and archive material has been brought to life in a new light.
Titled ‘It’s Not Just Art, It’s an Experience’, the campaign highlights the fact that The Andy Warhol Museum is not merely a place to look at his art like a regular gallery. Instead, it positions itself as a “genuinely unique, unbelievable, immersive, in-real-life experience.” To communicate this idea, it commissioned a series of highly directed, fashion-forward photographs that have appeared across print and social media.
Instead of images of visitors quietly contemplating the magnificence of Warhol’s work, these photographs feature models striking poses in front of classic Pop art paintings. These include Skull, The Last Supper, Silver Clouds and Andy Warhol on the Red Couch.
When snapped through the lens of photographer and director James Emmerman, who has previously shot for The New York Times, Forbes, Nike and Vogue, these images allow the campaign to serve as a testament to the enduring legacy of Andy Warhol’s work and his cultural impact on late twentieth-century art.
Indeed, capturing the uniqueness of the museum via a memorable campaign was at the heart of the gallery’s pitch to both the photographer and BarkelyOKRP. “We love that the resulting work reads as if your favourite social media influencers immersed themselves fully in our lively installations,” says Rick Armstrong, Director of Marketing and Communications at The Andy Warhol Museum.
“We’re grateful to have partnered with the talented team at BarkleyOKRP on this effort and look forward to welcoming new visitors to experience The Andy Warhol museum themselves this year.”
As for BarkleyOKRP, creating these photographs saw them entering into the mindset of Warhol himself. “When digging into this project, we asked ourselves, ‘If Andy were to promote the museum, how would he do it?'” says the studio’s creative director Cathy Bowen.
“So we embraced his love of fashion, fantasy and multimedia, high and low culture, creating images that presented The Warhol as an immersive experience that will blow you away.”
Emmerman himself added: “Andy Warhol famously said that Pop Art is all about ‘liking things.’ This is how many people most often experience photography now — as something to ‘like’ on social media.
“For this project, I was interested by the oddly appropriate challenge of creating images in that vein. Work that celebrates Warhol, the museum, and the Pittsburgh community surrounding it. Work that inspires the audience to like. And I like to think Andy would’ve liked that.”
