Andy Warhol Museum
Andy is back!
A pop art legend and a world-unique museum come back to life in Medzilaborce with a whole new look.
Andy Warhol, the king of pop art and a worldwide icon of the 20th century, is opening the doors to his world once again. After an extensive three-year renovation, the Andy Warhol Museum of Modern Art in Medzilaborce, the first museum in the world dedicated to the artist, presents itself in a completely new, modern form.
Discover how the traditional Rusyn roots that inspired Andy meet the latest digital technologies, lighting design and interactive exhibitions.
Who was Andy Warhol?
An artist who turned everyday objects into icons, foresaw the age of celebrity and never forgot where he came from.
Andy Warhol remembered his roots all his life. He was born in Pittsburgh to Rusyn emigrants Julia and Andrej Varchola from Miková near Medzilaborce. Andy grew up embraced by Rusyn traditions and Greek Catholic icons. His mother spoke to him only in Rusyn, and it was the spiritual world of golden iconostases that he later transformed into pop art portraits of world-famous celebrities.
At the age of 8 he was confined to bed by chorea. That moment changed everything: drawing and taking photos with his mother, he discovered his talent. From a commercial illustrator in New York he worked his way up to become a pioneer of pop art who, in his legendary studio The Factory, erased the line between high art and mass culture. Andy was not just a painter but also a film director, a visionary and a master of self-promotion. Despite an assassination attempt in 1968 and failing health, he created with unflagging passion until his death in 1987.
What makes Andy Warhol’s art so special?
He turned iconic products and faces into an immortal pop art culture. He started a revolution.
Andy Warhol changed the way we see what can be art. He took ordinary objects from the consumer world, such as a can of Campbell’s soup, a bottle of Coca-Cola or the faces of famous celebrities like Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley, and turned them into works of art. He raised mass culture to gallery status.
As a commercial illustrator he looked for ways to speed up and mechanise his work. He became famous for screen printing (serigraphy), which allowed him to multiply the same motifs and change only their colour variations. He also used a distinctive technique of blotted contours (blotted line), which became his signature style.
His love of repeating motifs and portraying famous people was no accident. It grew out of his memories of the golden iconostases and holy pictures in the Greek Catholic church. He turned his famous studio, The Factory, into a living workshop, where he himself became the first global brand in the art world.
The Andy Warhol Museum of Modern Art in Medzilaborce
The world’s first museum dedicated to the master of pop art is back in a modern, world-class form after a three-year renovation.
The new exhibition, worth almost €16 million, brings lighting design, interactive elements, digital projections and multimedia. In doing so, it follows on from Warhol’s lifelong passion for new media and innovative technologies.
You can discover authentic documents about the Rusyn origins of the Varchola family, Andy’s personal belongings (a camera, his iconic sunglasses, a prayer book) and the christening gown in which the Warhola brothers were baptised.
You will see with your own eyes original series prints such as Campbell's Soup, Marilyn Monroe and Camouflage, as well as rare works from his pre-pop art period.
The permanent exhibition sets Warhol’s work alongside icons of street and modern art such as Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Roy Lichtenstein and Banksy.
The museum is just 150 m from the hotel
Combine a relaxing hotel stay with a visit to the museum and discover the story of Andy Warhol’s roots.
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