Andy Warhol

Rats and Star

1983

© 2021 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Licensed by DACS, London

License this image

Not on display

Artist: Andy Warhol 1928–1987
Medium: Lithograph on paper
Dimensions: Support: 572 × 840 mm
frame: 640 × 905 × 38 mm
Collection: ARTIST ROOMS Tate and National Galleries of Scotland
Acquisition: ARTIST ROOMS Acquired jointly with the National Galleries of Scotland through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Art Fund 2008
Reference: AR00448

Online caption

This poster features the front and back designs for Rats & Star’s album ‘Soul Vacation’. The eighties Japanese pop group’s name originates in the belief that it is possible to be a ‘rat’, coming from a less prosperous background, and still become a star: a notion close to Warhol’s heart as the son of working-class immigrants. In the design by Warhol from 1983, he draws on this idea of advancement and progression with the left side appearing incomplete, showing the working process or beginnings of creating a screenprint. The right side then shows the finished portraits of the men as stars. He incorporates blocks of colour beneath a black print over which he has layered printed hand-drawn elements.

Explore

abstraction(9,836)
- from recognisable sources(4,468)
- - figure(2,273)
emotions, concepts and ideas(16,531)
- formal qualities(12,564)
- - colour(848)
  - photographic(4,742)
leisure and pastimes(7,771)
- music and entertainment(2,270)
- - music, pop(60)
objects(23,363)
- reading, writing, printed matter(5,153)
- - album cover, Rats & Star, ‘Soul Vacation’(2)
people(35,142)
- adults(22,742)
- - man(10,483)
- body(4,871)
- - head / face(2,499)
- ethnicity(4,562)
- - Asian(117)
- named groups(2,823)
- - Rats & Star(2)
- named individuals(12,487)
- - Kuboki, Hiroyuki(2)
  - Sato, Yoshio(2)
  - Suzuki, Masayuki(2)
  - Tashiro, Masashi(2)
- portraits(4,429)
- - groups(312)
  - individuals: male(1,854)
society(34,938)
- lifestyle and culture(10,249)
- - advertising(536)
  - fashion(157)
- nationality(18,235)
- - Japanese(128)
symbols and personifications(7,181)
- inscriptions(6,688)
- - printed text(1,144)
work and occupations(14,199)
- arts and entertainment(6,694)
- - musician(790)

You might like

Andy Warhol Rats and Star

1983
Andy Warhol The Star

1981
Andy Warhol The Beatles

1980
Andy Warhol Ryuichi Sakamoto 1983

1984
Andy Warhol Marx Brothers

1982
Andy Warhol Ryuichi Sakamoto 1983

1984
Andy Warhol Ryuichi Sakamoto

1984
Andy Warhol Mao

1977
Andy Warhol Muhammad Ali by Andy Warhol

1978
Andy Warhol Ryuichi Sakamoto

1984
Andy Warhol Mick Jagger in Japan

1988
Andy Warhol Mick Jagger

1980
Andy Warhol Russell Means

1977
Andy Warhol Marilyn Monroe

1985
Andy Warhol Russell Means

1979

In the shop

Browse the shop