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Can you tell a real Warhol from a fake? Four art exhibitions to see for free
Three of the four free exhibitions described explore questions of national identity, artistic originality and violence. Cady Noland’s stark works assemble images and objects associated with American celebrity, consumer culture and policing, while Sturtevant’s carefully made copies of famous artworks challenge viewers to consider what makes art valuable or authentic. Paloma Contreras Lomas’s immersive paintings draw on Mexican history and the violence of the drug war.
Noland’s exhibition includes photographs of Patty Hearst, Lee Harvey Oswald, protests and Frank Sinatra, alongside resin-preserved police badges, crushed Pepsi cans and other discarded materials. Sturtevant reproduces works associated with Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Frank Stella and Keith Haring, inviting comparison with the originals and questioning the idea of artistic genius. Contreras Lomas presents three large, psychedelic paintings populated by skulls, demons and other figures, reflecting a period in Mexico marked by bodies found in unmarked graves.
In short
- Noland examines America through stark images and cultural debris.
- Sturtevant’s copies question originality and artistic value.
- Contreras Lomas’s paintings reflect Mexico’s drug war.
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