Exhibition Details

Henzel Studio is honoured to further its collaboration with The Andy Warhol Foundation of Visual Arts on the second collection of handmade art rugs based on one of Warhol’s most controversial yet abstract series of works, his Oxidation Paintings. Curated by Joakim Andreasson, the collection is part of Henzel Studio Heritage, an ongoing program of art rugs established with foundations and estates of the most prominent artists of the 20th century. Henzel Studio Heritage is developed in parallel with Henzel Studio Collaborations, the brand’s debut artist program that to date includes designs by Nan Goldin, Marilyn Minter, Douglas Gordon, Richard Prince, Tony Oursler, Anselm Reyle and Mickalene Thomas, among others.
For the second installment of Henzel Studio Heritage: Andy Warhol, Andreasson identified Warhol’s Oxidation Paintings from 1978 as a captivating series to examine after experiencing one of the pieces at Andy Warhol: From A to B and Back Again, exhibition at The Whitney Museum For American Art in New York, 2019. Hours later, at a pre-scheduled meeting with The Andy Warhol Foundation For The Visual Arts, minds were aligned to explore the paintings’ adaptability into the media of rugs further. After two years of painstaking development and production, the result is a remarkably seamless adaptation, where similar oxidation outcomes and comparable textures have been achieved. “The foundation is delighted to expand our collaboration with Henzel Studio to celebrate Warhol’s idiosyncratic exploration of abstraction and his continued influence on contemporary culture,” shares Michael Dayton Hermann of The Andy Warhol Foundation. “We are proud to work with creatives like Calle Henzel and Joakim Andreasson to execute exquisite interpretations of Warhol’s work as handmade art rugs. Revenue generated from the sale of the rugs contributes generously to the vital work of the charitable non-profit established by Andy Warhol," he adds.
When making his Oxidation paintings, Warhol laid his canvases down on the floor, coated them with copper paint, and then directed his assistants or visitors to his studio to urinate on them while the paint was still wet. The acid from the urine oxidized the metal in the copper paint, creating an abstract shimmering effect. Insisting on the importance of artistic skill when creating the paintings, Warhol explained: “If I asked someone to do an Oxidation painting, and they just wouldn’t think about it, it would just be a mess. Then I did it myself – and it’s just too much work – and you try to figure out a good design,” quoted by Andy Warhol.
Warhol’s Oxidation paintings resulted in an abstract exploration of differently shaped stains, intricate color-shifts and shimmering surfaces. Far removed from his previous work, which to date had been largely derived from photography and transferred to canvas via silk-screening, this was the first time he committed to a certain kind of painterly abstraction reminiscent of Abstract Expressionism. The process in which these paintings were made, by urinating on the canvas, and the developing process through oxidation, suggest a kind of alchemy in which bodily fluids are transformed into images of devastating beauty. These limited edition rugs are made of the finest silk and wool available, and solely utilize hand-made techniques that date back centuries. Calle Henzel, founder and creative director of Henzel Studio, experimented extensively with various techniques that in practice might seem contradictory and destructive – but one that allows for a closer dialogue with the original works.
The abstractions, freeform shapes and variable pile heights of these rugs are coincidentally closely tied with Calle Henzel’s signature designs, many of which are informed by free-form shapes, interplay between volume and dimensions, effects of erosion and geological formations – Characteristics that have carved a trademark place for Henzel Studio in art and interior design. Aesthetics aside, Andreasson found it intriguing to explore adapting works that were created on the same plane field as the one rug traditionally inhabit – the floor. With the Oxidation Paintings being executed through elements of chance, random and performance comparable to the making of Yves Klein’s paintings, it is compelling to see how these engaging works in turn are given an alternate life as elements of physical and domestic engagement.