Flash 43B by Andy Warhol was an additional screenprint added to the Flash – November 22, 1963 series, along with Flash 43A and Flash 43C. Warhol took images he had used in the first part of the series and combined them to create the final three prints. The three additional prints are all the same images, however Warhol used different colors in the printing of JFK’s portrait. In this print, John F. Kennedy and the presidential seal exist on the same plane, both images indistinguishable as they are printed in two tones of red. In the low-contrast image, Kennedy seems to almost blend in to the background.
Flash 43B by Andy Warhol as Part of His Larger Body of Work
As part of the Flash portfolio, Warhol commented on the state of mass-media and its obsession with the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The “news flash” Teletype texts that reported the assassination and the news following is where the name for this portfolio came from. Warhol was fascinated by the continual media spectacle following the assassination of JFK. Like a lot of Warhol’s work, he takes an image from the media of tragedy and turns it into a brightly colored image of Pop art.
