Large Sleep, 1965

Narrator: To make Large Sleep, Warhol printed enlargements of two sequential frames from his 1963 film Sleep onto plexiglass. It’s the only work in this gallery that’s actually based on film stills. But as you compare it to the paintings around you, you’ll notice that the way Warhol repeated images in these works implies a sense of motion, like a film strip. This cinematic effect was no accident. At the time, Warhol had come to feel that the medium of painting was too limited—and he was especially interested in film. Sleep was one of the earliest films Warhol made. It consists entirely of shots of his lover, John Giorno, sleeping. If you’d like to hear about the film itself, which will be screening twice in the film programs on the Museum’s third floor, please continue on to the next track.