I’M ANDY WARHOL
Eyewear brand “Zoff” has launched a collaboration line, “I’M ANDY WARHOL,” with The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and we visited the commemorative kick-off event.
Naturally the collaboration products were on display, but the venue itself was also dyed in Andy Warhol colors, producing a wonderfully vibrant space.
The venue’s unified aesthetic almost gave the illusion of being at an “Andy Warhol exhibition.”
Ryuichi Sakamoto
In one corner of the venue, an Andy Warhol work was displayed under carefully aimed lighting.
Properly framed in an acrylic mount, it clearly radiated an aura different from anything else around it.
This appears to be the original of a work commissioned in the 1980s for the promotion of Sainte Neige wine, released at the time by Kyowa Hakko — a promotional portrait of Ryuichi Sakamoto painted by Andy Warhol and used in point-of-sale materials. Watching the commercial from that era, the fresh, bright smile of the young “Professor” is truly striking.
We spoke with Hiroshi Ueno of Zoff / Intermestic Inc., the current owner of the work, who was on hand at the venue.
He explained that only three copies of this work exist in the world, with the other two in the possession of Ryuichi Sakamoto himself — meaning we had the chance to view an extremely rare piece.
Though it may not directly relate to this collaboration project, perhaps it is precisely Zoff’s deep affection for Andy Warhol that made this project possible.
For details on the “I’M ANDY WARHOL” collaboration line, please see the article below.
