Global Post looks at Carlos Giraldo, the mayor of a small Andean town in Colombia that has installed an exhibition of Warhol’s work:

Giraldo dreamed up with the idea while studying in Germany in the 1990s. He recalled how treasures of Russia’s Romanov Dynasty were loaned to a museum in a small German town. Art-lovers from all over Europe made the pilgrimage.

Giraldo wanted to pull off a similar coup to bring cultural tourists to his town. The Warhol works were on already in Bogota as part of a traveling exhibition. So, Giraldo and other civic leaders convinced the curator to farm out 13 Mao and Marilyn Monroe silkscreens for a few months.

Just as he planned, the exhibition has drawn big crowds. […] Warhol was a founding father of pop art, the movement that defied cultural elitists by pushing the notion that mass-produced consumer goods — like comic strips, Campbell’s Soup cans or Coca-Cola bottles — were legitimate subjects for fine art. His focus on mundane items and playful portraits were also ways to make the powerful seem more accessible. Or, in the words of Warhol: “The president drinks Coca-Cola, Liz Taylor drinks Coca-Cola, and just think, you can drink Coca-Cola too.”

That concept resonates with people living in the Colombian backcountry.

What’s Andy Warhol Doing in Rural Colombia (MinnPost.com)