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Andy Warhol
(August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987),
Andy was an American artist,
avant-garde filmmaker, writer and social figure. Warhol also worked
as a (magazine) publisher, music producer and actor. With his background
and experience in commercial art, Warhol was one of the founders of
the Pop Art movement in the United States in the 1950s.
Warhol is best known for his extremely simple, larger-than-life, high-contrast
color paintings (silk-screen prints) of packaged consumer products,
everyday objects - such as Campbell's Soup, poppy flowers and the
banana appearing on the cover of the rock music album The Velvet Underground
and Nico (1967) - and for his stylized portraits of twentieth century
celebrity icons - such as Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Jacqueline
Kennedy Onassis, Judy Garland, and Elizabeth Taylor.
Outside the art world, Warhol is best
known for the quotation
"In the future everyone will be famous for 15 minutes."
He later told reporters, "My new line is,
'In fifteen minutes, everybody will be famous'".
Sexuality
Andy Warhol was homosexual, and in The Warhol Diaries writes openly
about his relationships with several men. However, early in his career
he occasionally implied to the press that he had girlfriends, including
a (possibly fictitious) girl he called "Taxi" who allegedly
went for long periods without bathing. Warhol was gay in an era when
America was much less informed about homosexual culture, and gay men
such as Liberace and Paul Lynde were generally accepted as simply
being dandies. Gay themes in Warhol's work were often overlooked by
a public oblivious to the symbolism of drag queens, cowboys and the
other icons and clichés of gay culture that frequently appeared
in his work. On the occasions Warhol was publicly pressed about his
sexuality, he was often playfully evasive. He often claimed to have
little libido, and those who knew him have said that being hugged
or otherwise touched made him quite uncomfortable.
Warhol's psychological and sexual attributes probably influenced his
artisitic ambition and directions. A New York Times observer wrote
recently, "As a child, Warhol fixated on Shirley Temple and dreamed
of being her. Years later, a newcomer in New York, he became obsessed
with the young Truman Capote after recognizing a kindred spirit from
the notorious, fey portrait on the jacket of his first published novel,
'Other Voices, Other Rooms.' For a while, Warhol even stalked Capote,
who rejected his overtures of friendship.
"With his blotched skin, bulbous nose and early hair loss (concealed
under a series of bad wigs), Warhol regarded himself as a physical
freak and hated to be touched. He was essentially a voyeur with a
voracious appetite for fame. ("A Portrait of the Artist as a
Visionary, a Voyeur and a Brand-Name Star" by Stephen Holden,
New York Times, September 1, 2006).
Socialite &
Recluse
Warhol used to socialize at Serendipity 3 and Studio 54, nightspots
in New York City. He was generally regarded as quiet, shy and as a
meticulous observer. More than one person jokingly referred to him
as "death warmed over." Warhol regularly volunteered at
homeless shelters in New York, particularly during the busier times
of the year. He described himself as a religious person, though he
was not fully accepted by religion because of his homosexuality. Many
of his later works contain almost hidden religious themes or subjects,
and a body of religious-themed works was found posthumously in his
estate.
Warhol also regularly attended Mass during his life.
In 1968, Warhol was shot in the chest by Valerie Solanas. Solanas
had previously founded a "group" (she was its only member)
called the "Society for Cutting Up Men" (S.C.U.M.) and authored
the S.C.U.M. Manifesto, a work of radical feminist literature that
has since found something of a following both from those who take
it seriously and those who find it inadvertently humorous. Arrested
the day after the assault, she said, "He had too much control
over my life." Warhol was seriously wounded and suffered physical
effects for the rest of his life. He had, for instance, to wear a
corset to support himself. The shooting had a profound effect on Warhol's
life and art, and The Factory scene became much more tightly controlled.
Solanas had received the gun in exchange for a stolen Warhol painting
from artist David Horvitz. To this day, Horvitz has refused to return
the painting, claiming that he had received it in a fair exchange.
Warhol adopted the band the
Velvet Underground as one of his projects in the 1960s, "producing"
their first album The Velvet Underground and Nico (his actual participation
in the album's production amounted to simply paying for the studio
time) as well as providing the album art. After the band's first album,
Warhol and band leader Lou Reed started to disagree more about the
direction the band should take, and the contact between them faded.
Warhol designed the cover art for The Rolling Stones album Sticky
Fingers, released in 1971.
Four years later, Warhol would be commissioned to do several portraits
of the band's frontman Mick Jagger.
In 1990 Reed recorded the album Songs for Drella (one of Warhol's
nicknames was Drella, a combination of Dracula and Cinderella) with
fellow Velvet Underground alumnus John Cale. On Drella, Reed apologizes
and comes to terms with his part in their conflict.
Warhol was also friendly with many musicians, including Bob Dylan
and John Lennon, and he appeared as a bartender in The Cars' music
video for their single "Hello Again," and Curiosity Killed
The Cat's video for their "Misfit" single (both videos,
and others, were produced by Warhol's video production company).
He had a crush on Duran Duran's Nick Rhodes, with whom he met fairly
often.
Warhol strongly influenced the new wave/punk rock band Devo
