
The most comprehensive exhibition of Andy Warhol in China to date reconsiders the breadth of the legendary Pop artist’s output, including nearly 400 drawings, paintings, photographs, and films from the The Andy Warhol Museum.
Opening 3 July 2021 at UCCA Beijing and subsequently traveling to UCCA Edge in Shanghai, Becoming Andy Warhol is the most comprehensive exhibition of Andy Warhol (1928-1987) staged to date in China. This exhibition brings nearly 400 works selected exclusively from the collection of The Andy Warhol Museum (Pittsburgh), including works that are displayed for the first time outside of The Warhol, with new attention paid to Warhol as a photographer and filmmaker. The exhibition reconsiders Warhol’s innovative and versatile artistic legacy and is informed by recent scholarship that candidly examines his life and prolific output with a more holistic understanding. It includes both representative and lesser-known works from various phases and aspects of his career, asserting Warhol’s anticipation of hybridity and repetition as primary influences in contemporary visual culture. Becoming Andy Warhol is produced in collaboration with The Andy Warhol Museum and curated by José Carlos Diaz, Chief Curator, and Patrick Moore, Director. The exhibition is designed by Xiaoxi Chen.
About the Artist
Andy Warhol was born Andrew Warhola on August 6, 1928, in a two-room apartment at 73 Orr Street in a working-class neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He attended Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) from 1945 to 1949, and began his career in New York City as a commercial illustrator. From the 1940s to his death in 1987, Warhol was a prolific artist and entrepreneur. He was a painter, sculptor, illustrator, photographer, and experimented with new media—publishing, film, music production, television, fashion, theater—throughout his career.
Andy Warhol was a leading figure in the American Pop Art movement, renowned for exploring consumer culture, mass media, and celebrity. Working across painting, printmaking, photography, film, and sculpture, he reflected the commonplace imagery of mid-century American popular culture and advertising in numerous iconic artworks.
UCCA Center for Contemporary Art is China’s leading contemporary art institution. Committed to the belief that art can deepen lives and transcend boundaries, UCCA presents a wide range of exhibitions, public programs, and research initiatives to a public of more than one million visitors each year. UCCA Beijing sits at the heart of the 798 Art District, occupying 10,000 square meters of factory chambers built in 1957 and regenerated in 2019 by OMA. UCCA Dune, designed by Open Architecture, lies beneath the sand in the seaside enclave of Aranya in Beidaihe.

A respected voice in contemporary art discourse.
Focusing on ambitious storytelling and insightful art-world commentary. Ocula Magazine publishes in-depth interviews, critical essays and timely analysis on the artists, exhibitions and ideas driving the global art world.
Learn more about Ocula Magazine
Showcasing the best of the art world.
Ocula partners with galleries from around the world to highlight their artists, artworks and exhibitions. Gallery membership is by application and invitation, with each member vetted by an independent panel.
Learn more about Ocula Membership
Specialises in the sale of major artworks.
Led by a team with deep ties to the world’s leading auction houses, galleries and collectors. Ocula’s advisory team offers bespoke services to high-net-worth clients from around the world who are looking to acquire the best of contemporary and modern art.
Learn more about our team and services