Warhol, Andy 1930-1987

WARHOL, ANDY 1930-1987

Artist

More Than Fifteen Minutes of Fame

Andy Warhol is the pop artist known to many in the general public for saying that at some point everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes. During the 1960s Warhol himself was famous for much longer, a celebrity to both artists and the public alike. No other artist, with the possible exception of Truman Capote, was invited to as many parties and as noted for his extravagant behavior.

Pop Artist

In the early 1960s Warhol went from being a shy artist from Pennsylvania who supported himself in advertising to the flamboyant enfant terrible of pop art and the avant-garde art scene in New York. He used Campbell's Soup cans, Brillo boxes, and photographs of movie stars (notably Marilyn Monroe) as subjects. His mass-produced paintings employ silk-screening rather than conventional brush strokes, both commenting on and celebrating the commercialization of art. Similarly, he promoted himself as an artist, becoming a self-made celebrity. A failed assassination attempt in 1968 made headlines when a disgruntled actress who had appeared in one of his films critically wounded him.

Other Ventures

In 1963 he formed the Factory, a collection of artists and actors who made highly experimental films—including Sleep (1963), an eight-hour-long movie of a man sleeping—and other creations. He also became the manager of the rock group the Velvet Underground, which was unpopular at the time but proved highly influential in the following decades.

Still Controversial

Warhol's work has always been controversial, both in content and technique. Detractors claim he was more of a con artist than an artist, while his supporters praise his work as both a critique and an affirmation of popular culture and the connection between money and art.

Sources:

Victor Bockris, The Life and Death off Andy Warhol (New York: Bantam, 1989);

David Bourdon, Warhol (New York: Abrams, 1989);

Kynaston McShine, ed., Andy Warhol: A Retrospective (New York: Museum of Modern Art / Boston: Little, Brown, 1989).