Heavily associated with its utilitarian and militaristic purpose, camouflage fabric is as widely recognised as it is distinct. Originally used to conceal war-machines in enemy territory, the versatile print has grown to encompass military uniform globally – an identifier for all that is conflict related. As a visual emblem, camouflage is to the military as castles are to Walt Disney, or soup cans are to Andy Warhol.
'You need to let the little things that would ordinarily bore you suddenly thrill you.' —Andy WarholIt was studio assistant Jay Shriver who experimented with a new painting technique in the late 1980’s, pushing paint through military cloth, who gave Warhol the idea of appropriating the combat related imagery. Warhol was intrigued by the all-over repetitive pattern of camouflage, with its leaf-shaped sprigs and islands, that represented the abstract expressionist paintings of his contemporaries. Using photographs taken of clothing purchased at an army surplus store, Warhol transposed and carefully altered the camouflage designs with a psychedelic palette. Playfully abstracting the patterns, the artist defied the print’s original purpose to disguise, and instead pushed the designs to centre stage with vibrant fluorescent colours. The result was a set of eight screenprints, each with different colours and varying levels of depth, that would form one of the artist’s final projects.
