MEDIA RELEASE
Friday 26 October 2012
Resene Recreates Iconic Pop Art in Testpots
Reproducing a giant version of Andy Warhol’s most famous image of a celebrity is no mean feat, especially when it
involves almost 4,000 testpots.
Paint company Resene is doing its bit for Art Week in Auckland’s BIG little City by recreating Warhol’s iconic image of
Marilyn Monroe, widely considered to be one of the most influential pieces of modern art of all time.
Measuring four by four metres, Resene’s version is made up of 3,944 test pots in four specially chosen colours -
Princess, Smitten, Shooting Star and All Black. And yes, those are the names of actual Resene paint colours!
Resene Marketing Manager Karen Warman says the humble testpot is the New Zealand company’s most recognisable product.
“Resene was the first to bring testpots to New Zealand back in 1981 and we now make more than one million of them a year
in over 2000 different colours.”
“These days they’re used for much more than just testing paint colours though, with many people using them to create art
for example. Which made us think, why not turn things around and use the testpots as actual art?”
Taking about three weeks to make, Warman said the design team started with a small version of the image and first worked
out how to pixellate the image on a much larger scale.
Each testpot was then painted and glued to the canvas, and when that didn’t work they were screwed on. Made in sections,
the eight pieces were then assembled onsite and attached to the side of two shipping containers big enough to support
it.
The giant artwork is on display from today for the duration of Art Week in the BIG little City from 26 October until 4
November in downtown’s Queen Elizabeth II Square.
ENDS