LACMA Visit- "Small Torn Campbell's Soup Can"

After visiting the LACMA’s BCAM permanent collection, I chose to write about one of my favorite artist’s work of art.  Andy Warhol did a piece of art titled as, “Small Torn Campbell’s Soup Can” in 1962.  Like many of his other Campbell Soup compositions, it is a recognizable object that is abstracted in an interesting way.  Warhol used casein, gold paint, and graphite on linen to make “Small Torn Campbell’s Soup Can”.  Unlike some of the other Campbell Soup pieces Warhol has done, this soup can sits alone in the artwork, where as some of his artworks consist of multiple cans of soup.  For the most part, the soup can painted in this work of art is recognizable, in the sense that the viewers can distinguish that it is a can of Campbell’s soup.  The label that wraps around the can of soup is painted as if it is torn and ripped up in the middle.  The text on the label is also torn making it difficult to read; however, the text can still be read.  The artwork is mostly black and white, but has some red on the label and a gold circle in the middle of the label, just like the gold symbol on the real Campbell’s Soup cans.

            Like I said earlier, one of the reasons I enjoy Andy Warhol’s artwork is because most of his work is publicly recognizable.  Therefore, viewers are automatically drawn towards Warhol’s “Small Torn Campbell’s Soup Can” because they recognize Campbell’s Soup.  The fact that the artwork can be easily recognized draws the viewer to the piece, but the interesting abstraction of the Campbell’s Soup can is what keeps the audience’s attention.  It allows the audience to imagine everyday objects in a different and unique way.  The way that Warhol painted the Campbell’s Soup Label mimics how a torn label would look in real life.  He had a visual strategy to abstract the can of soup, yet still make it look realistic and recognizable.  “Small Torn Campbell’s Soup Can” relates to contemporary visual culture in the sense that it is abstract.  When I think of contemporary, I think of simple, yet somewhat distorted or abstract.  This is exactly how Warhol painted the Campbell’s Soup can.  It is simple and recognizable, yet also abstracted.