Contemporary artist to reveal his art 'After Warhol' in Covent Garden

A contemporary artist will be appearing in Covent Garden next week to showcase his latest collection, created in collaboration with one of Andy Warhol’s original master printers, Alexander Heinrici.

Local art fans can meet Paul Stephenson at Castle Fine Art on New Row on Thursday 21st February between 6pm and 8pm and learn about the inspirations and techniques behind his latest body of work, After Warhol. The collection will then be on display in the gallery for a further week.

Praised by both the BBC and Vice magazine, After Warhol sees Paul bring Warhol’s original acetates to life. The items, purchased at a London auction and authenticated by the Andy Warhol Museum, are materials Warhol worked on by hand before the mechanical process of silkscreen printing began.

Paul has faithfully followed Warhol’s method, enlarging the original acetate before transferring the image to a larger canvas and using a squeegee to press the inks through a screen.

His venture into the world of Warhol began in 2010 when he purchased a collection of the artist’s original acetates. Fast-forward to today and Stephenson is the only artist with whom Warhol’s silkscreen printer of choice, Alexander Heinrici, is working to create what is described by the world’s foremost Warholian authority, Professor Rainer Crone, as ‘posthumous Warhol’ screen prints.

Speaking ahead of his appearance in Covent Garden, Paul Stephenson said: “When producing each piece I get into character and often feel like one of Warhol’s studio assistants. I keep asking myself, ‘What would Andy do?’ That holds me to a standard of which I can be proud. ¬

“This is the first time I’m bringing the collection to Covent Garden, and I’m very much looking forward to sharing my story with visitors and seeing how they react to my work.”

Jon Stokes, gallery manager at Castle Fine Art, Covent Garden, said: “No one can bring the story of After Warhol to life better than Paul himself. From his exceptional subject knowledge, to the many memorable anecdotes about people he’s met along the way, Paul’s is a tale that has to be heard from the man himself.

“We are very excited to give guests the opportunity to do just that when he launches the new collection at our gallery next week. The event is high in demand, so we’d encourage anybody interested in attending to get in touch as soon as possible to be added to the guest list.”