Ken Moody and Robert Sherman

The dual-screen work featuring Ken Moody and Robert Sherman was created in 1984 by the famous American pop artist Andy Warhol. Warhol was deeply fascinated by portraiture and reproduced images of his contemporaries using silkscreen printing.

The black-and-white portraits feature Ken Moody, an African American model and artist, and Robert Sherman, a Caucasian performance artist and writer. The diptych places their faces side-by-side in a striking study of contrast.

Warhol used the diptych format to explore themes of identity, race, and the concept of the alter ego. By presenting a Black man and a White man with different facial expressions but identical formatting, Warhol challenged viewers to examine societal perceptions of celebrity.

Warhol utilized his signature photographic silkscreen technique on acrylic canvas to produce the artwork. This process allowed him to easily manipulate the black-and-white contrast, emphasizing shadows and the stark differences between the two sitters.