Andy
Warhol was born in 1928 in Pittsburgh. He came from a poor Czech immigrant family.
He grew up during the great depression and had been greatly influenced by that
time in his life. Those memories of poverty stayed with him all of his life. He was very close to his mother who was a real
believer in him and nurtured his love for the arts since he was young boy. She lived with him until she became senile and
Andy could no longer keep track of her. She then moved back to Pittsburgh to be
with her other sons who could take care of her.
Known as one of the most recognizable and
influential artist of Pop Art, Andy changed the art world from abstract
expressionist to recognizable art. He saw art in the everyday things. In the 1950’s Warhol came to New York City and
started his career in commercial art. He eventually transformed himself into one
of New York’s most influential commercial artist (Koestenbaum, 33). He met Muriel Latow an art consultant at a
party and pays $50.00 for her advice of “
you should paint something that everybody sees everyday …like cans of soup”
(Greenberg & Jordan, 45). Using her
advice he began to paint things he had memories of from his childhood. Famous
people: Warren Beatty, Elvis Presley, Natalie Wood. Most famously known was the Campbell Soup
collection. Which he sold for $1000.00 dollars. Then in 1999 sold them to the
MOMA for $7 Million dollars (Greenberg & Jordan, 47). He developed a new
technique called silk-screening in order to produce a mass amount of his art. Having
someone else do his art work so that he can bring in more business. He believed
not knowing who reproduced his art that was the fun of it. He wanted to be
machine like.
His apartment on
231 East 47th street became known as “ The Factory” a hip hang out for
celebrities, Artists, Socialites, free thinkers, drag queens like: Dali, Truman Capote, Paul Morrissey, Mick Jagger
would all hang out at Warhol’s apartment. It was dubbed the factory because
there is where you would find workers making art, like it was a factory. He held parties, film screenings. It was known as the place to be. “It became a
glamorous hangout where everyone was trying to attract Andy’s
attention”…Geldzahler. Then
eventually moving The Factory to 33 Union Square.
He began film
making after watching a movie that he said was boring he believed he could do
better. He started filming friends and lovers doing everyday things.
Andy believed in
keeping busy, trying to always seek new opportunities. He managed a band he
went to hear play called the The Velvet Underground. A psychedelic punk band before it’s time. He
called their act” fabulous and demented” (Warhol, 1966) and made them a staple
at The Factory. They traveled with
Warhol’s multimedia show “ The Exploding Plastic Inevitable” (Brockis,1989).
In 1968 Andy was
shot and injured by Valerie Solanas. She was the sole member of SCUM (Society
for Cutting Up Men). She claimed he had too much control over her life. He was
brought to the hospital and pronounced dead. His friend Mario was not as badly
injured shouted to the doctors “do something he is rich and famous”. They ripped open his shirt and performed
surgery. After this incident, “The
Factory” began to change and become more office like.
Andy had no longer
been a shock to art lovers in America and began to travel overseas where he was
adored. One of his last creations was taken from the masterpiece The Last
Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci which he recreated using silk-screen. During his
travels he grew sick and experienced pain in his stomach. Never the one to go
to doctors, he was more interested in other healing pathways. He was persuaded
by his friends to have surgery and checked himself into New York Hospital
saying “ I am not going to make it” “ I am not going to come out of this
hospital.” Andy Warhol died February 22, after complications related to
surgery.
Andy
Warhol was definitely ahead of his era. I am not sure if he was around today if
he would have been so dramatic. He was
the driving force for Pop art scene.
References:
Jordan, S. & Greenberg, J. (2007) Andy Warhol. Prince of
Pop (1st Ed.). Laurel-Leaf:
New York.
Warhol, Andy (6 Aug 1928 – 22 Feb
1987). (2005).In The Crystal Reference Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://molloy.idm.oclc.org/login?qurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.credoreference.com/entry/cre/warhol_andy_6_aug_1928_22_feb_1987
Bockris, V. (1989). The life and death of andy warhol. New
York: Bantam Books.
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