Warhol and Jackie

The social and political subsets in wartime spiked the ideological work of Warhol in his series exploring duplications.

Tension during the cold war period of 1947-1991 broiled in divergent manifestations of art. These platform were used to reform oppressive political/social messages, and concurrently imagine the fixing for a utopia. To reach a larger audience, political art is mobilised through newsprint. Its ability to funnel messages of propaganda, think pieces, and political, cultural and social affirmations through the lens of a well-respected and vetted newspaper permits writers, artists, and governmental bodies with a unique access to criticism with a loyal following.

However, artist Andy Warhol’s technique worked dissimilarly to these two; part tongue in cheek and part critical thinking. Here, Warhol responds to the most infamous victim of the cold war. Amidst rumoured secret spies and intelligence, John F Kennedy was assassinated on 22 of November, 1963. Depicted above is Warhols reflection on the matter; a cropped image of Jackie as she walks out of the plane, her dress stained with the blood of her late husband. The shock value from this scene echoed through the United States for decades to come. This photograph is because Warhol crops and obscures her face almost beyond recognition if it weren’t for the title, and Warhols reputation.

Barthes lays out six “connotation procedures” or processes whereby a photograph takes on a connoted meaning. These are: trick effects, pose, objects which index certain things, photogenia, aestheticism, and syntax, where photographs exist in a series.