When an artist is as well known as Andy Warhol, it is difficult to imagine a time without his work. A renowned pop artist with a style so recognisable to even non-enthusiasts, the American cultural icon not only influenced the art world with his innovative silkscreen printing techniques and branding, but bridged the gap between art and something that was, at the time, entirely separate — commerce. For much of his career, Warhol brought advertising to life — creatively reimagining famous adverts into remarkable, eye-catching works of art.

The strongest example of this is, perhaps, the rarely seen Ads series. Created as both a portfolio of silkscreen prints and a set of ten canvas paintings, the collection showcases Warhol’s stylistic, bold, and powerful interpretations of advertisements for brands such as Apple, Volkswagen, and Chanel. And, for the first time, the prints and paintings are displayed together in the UK.

In an essay accompanying the exhibition, art historian and museum curator Joachim Pissarro explains: “Ads is a masterful culmination of Warhol’s career-long interest in the blurred lines between commercialism and fine art, and it resituates these omnipresent themes into a new state-of-the art array consonant with this late era’s zeitgeist. These ads radiate themes such as cosmopolitanism, technology, movie stardom, political power, elegance and luxury in a visual vocabulary that was at stark odds with the deceptively homespun, quaint but enchanting output of Warhol’s own wildly successful career as a commercial illustrator thirty years prior.”

Elsewhere in the exhibition, other works by Warhol complement the Ads series, such as rarely seen portraits and a space dedicated to his famous Campbell’s Soup Cans. In addition, Halcyon Gallery celebrates the influence and impact of Warhol on other artists, showing the work of Keith Haring and Jean Michel-Basquiat amongst others.

Beyond the Brand is open through April 7 at Halcyon Gallery, 148 New Bond Street, Mayfair.