John William Codeling: A Special Report

After abruptly leaving his job as an institutional brokerage director on Wall Street in 2008, John William Codling put his savings into his own art. That investment culminated in the massive opening reception of his "Me I Play" exhibit at East Hampton Studios. 

A successful career followed suit, including exhibitions at Diane Von Furstenberg’s gallery and philanthropic endeavors in support of cancer charity Team Continuum; one could say John William Codling is living the American Dream. 

The American Dream is a subject Codling addresses in his new body of work, "A Special Report," which premiered February 15th in Venice, CA at SL Gallery.  Broadly drawn, saturated portraits of public figures take on the pressing questions of the day; among them the social consequences of greed, the corrosive effects of money and religion in politics, the contradictory aspirations embodied by the American Dream, and the destructive outcome of unquestioning faith in American exceptionalism through the media. With wit, satire, and passion, Codling waxes nostalgic without sentimentality, a time of youthful innocence and trusting relationship between the media and American Public. 

Origins: Andy Warhol and Sunday B Morning

Sunday B. Morning was founded by friends and associates of Andy Warhol, headed by elusive Belgian Mr (Els) Van De Plas. In the 1980‘s, Van de Plas invited Andy Warhol to Belgium to meet Hergé (father of the comic strip Tintin) and Paul Delvaux.  The origin of the name Sunday B. Morning is still a mystery, but unverified rumors suggest that it may derive from Sunday Belgian Morning or Sunday Bloody Morning.  Mr. Van De Plas passed away in the late 1980’s and could not be reached for comment.

Q. What is the Sunday B. Morning Marilyn series?

A. Ten high quality, hand silkscreened variations using exact reproductions of the silkscreens Warhol created for his Marilyn series.

Q. What is the difference between the original Warhol prints and the Sunday B. Morning series?

A. The prints exist in ten contemporary color ways.  These colors were chosen by Sunday B. Morning and are not the original Factory colors.

Sunday B. Morning Portfolio of 10, Soup Cans, c. 1980. Screenprint

The current prints are not to be compared in monetary value to the 1967 series, which is authorized by the Warhol Foundation.  The Sunday B. Morning prints are decorative artworks using the iconic image, produced in solidarity with Warhol’s concept of “pop” art, in contemporary colors chosen by the Sunday B. Morning collective.  They are NOT authorized by the Warhol Foundation as Warhol’s original art. While they have been shown to have resale value based on the artistic and decorative merit of the prints, the value is not akin to the original 250 authorized portfolios. 

*Warhol’s Factory Additions should not be confused with the company “Factory Additions” that was incorporated by UK auctioneer John Nicholson in September 2007.

**Andy Warhol Prints: A Catalogue Raisonne: 1962-1987, by Andy Warhol and Jorg Schellmann