CONSUMING DEATH

Published on the occasion of a show of his work at the Stellan Holm Gallery, ANDY WARHOL 5 DEATHS takes a single tragic image from his “Death and Disaster” series and banishes the existential terror through repetition and color. Or does he? These paintings from 1963 are encountered in the wake of finitude, and retain the power to disturb, even suggesting the frailty of life through faulty inking and registration. Later works like the Electric Chairs,  Skulls,  and  Shadows renew this dread,  but with not quite the same power. The question as to whether one can ward off death by consuming it is never answered,  but all in all this is Warhol at his best. Contained in this slim volume is an  interview

 with Warhol by assistant Gerard Malanga,  as well as a conversation between Malanga and Jeff Koons.