IF you want to know all about Andy Warhol, just look at the surface of my paintings, films and me, and there I am. There is nothing behind it." Thus spake Andy Warhol (1928-87), the king of pop art.

Now there's a chance to know a lot about the pop icon through an exhibition of 70 of his limited editions of silkscreen prints and offset lithographs at Shanghai Sculpture Space. Warhol would have appreciated the venue, a renovated steel plant.

Nearly all the works are on loan from private collectors in Europe and the United States, according to the organizers, Shanghai Red Town Culture Development and Art+Shanghai gallery.

"Our venue that was renovated from an old industrial steel plant resonates well with Warhol's spirit, and it is much better to hang his pieces here than in some official museums and galleries," says Crystal Wang, operations director of Shanghai Sculpture Space

Outside, the sloping grass lawn is dotted with sculptures of a girl lying down, a house and a brick automobile - a bit of an oasis on hectic Huaihai Road W.

Inside the space, vestiges of industry are everywhere, stone stairways remain and the two-story-high ceiling is breathtaking. Visitors are caught up in Warhol's pop art world as they check out the works and listen to pop.

"The purpose of this show is to bring variety to the city's art scene, and we want to see every visitor 'high' on the site," says Wang.

Roy Lichtenstein (1923-97), Claes Thure Oldenburg and Warhol are among the most prescient of post-modernist artists.

Warhol was unchallenged as the king of pop art, and he used his many talents to turn his own life into a work of pop art.

He appropriated images of Campbell's Soup, Coca-Cola, detergents and celebrities such as Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor.

"We got approval from the publishing house to have copies of his famous 'Marilyn Monroe' for this exhibit, as they are too famous to be ignored."

Some works are for sale and affordable, Wang says.

Working in his studio called "The Factory," Warhol used photo stencils in screen printing to mass-produce lucrative celebrity portraits, while at the same time making monotonous films that had absolutely no market value.

Warhol spent his entire life in the media limelight: he always wore a silver wig and always avoided voicing his opinion by using a lot of "uhs" or "greats" in his speech. His fascination with celebrity and stardom was unprecedented in the art world.

Visitors can watch TV interviews with Warhol. He often insisted there was no meaning behind his work and refused to explain it.

"The spirit of pop art was distinctively American: the exceptional standards of life, superficiality of mass consumption, worship of Hollywood celebrities, pursuit of fame and fortune, and a business approach to art dealership," says Victoria Lu, director of Moon River Museum of Contemporary Art in Beijing.

"Although pop art itself was not a dominating form of artistic creation, its synchronization with popular culture has altered the public's attitude towards art, acknowledging what used to be considered vulgar and ordinary as art. That was the undeniable magic of this art form," she adds.

Warhol used everyday objects and well-known figures to build an image of those things for the viewer. For example, the exhibition displays a garment he made of cellulose and cotton titled "Soup Dress."

His style of painting is impersonal and literal, hampering deep interpretation of his work and exploration of the artist himself.

Profound reflection on his work and life was shunned.

"During the course of his life, Warhol's unconventional artistic pursuit and lifestyle were both loved and hated in the art world," says Lu. "In the modernist age Warhol was a traitor; yet in the time when post-modernism has triumphed, he becomes a hero."