Canadian show focuses on Warhol's darker side

By Leah Schnurr

TORONTO (Reuters) - Gruesome images of death and suffering are par for the course in an art exhibition put together by filmmaker David Cronenberg, whose movies often include drama and gore akin to that on display in Toronto.

The exhibition of the works of Andy Warhol brings together more than 25 paintings and seven films, many of which highlight the dark side of the American pop artist.

They include disturbing images of fiery car crashes, suicide and the electric chair, as well as more familiar icons like brightly-coloured portraits of Jackie Kennedy and Elvis Presley.

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"The understanding of Andy is generally superficial," said Cronenberg, sitting across from a bleakly colourless painting of a car crash victim impaled on a telephone pole. "Andy was a heavy-duty, profound artist, but that gets lost in soup cans."

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