Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. After a successful career as a commercial illustrator, Warhol became famous worldwide for his work as a painter, avant-garde filmmaker, record producer, author, and public figure known for his membership in wildly diverse social circles that included bohemian street people, distinguished intellectuals, Hollywood celebrities and wealthy aristocrats.
Warhol has been the subject of numerous retrospective exhibitions, books, and feature and documentary films. He coined the expression "15 minutes of fame. “ In the future everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes.” Andy Warhol
Childhood Andy Warhol was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1928 whose parents were working-class immigrant sfrom Miková, Austro- Hungarian Empire (now in northeastern Slovakia).He was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art.
The 1960s It was during the 1960s that Warhol began to make paintings of iconic American products such as Campbell's Soup Cansfrom the Campbell Soup Company and Coca-Cola bottles, as well as paintings of celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, Troy Donahue, and Elizabeth Taylor. He founded "The Factory," his studio during these years, and gathered around himself a wide range of artists, writers, musicians, and underground celebrities. He began producing prints using the silkscreen method. His work became popular and controversial.
He had this to say about Coca Cola: What's great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coca Cola, Liz Taylor drinks Coca Cola, and just think, you can drink Coca Cola, too. A coke is a coke and no amount of money can get you a better coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the cokes are the same and all the cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it.
shooting On June 3, 1968, Valerie Solanas shot Warhol and art critic and curator Mario Amaya at Warhol's studio. Warhol was seriously wounded by the attack and barely survived.He suffered physical effects for the rest of his life. Solanas was arrested the day after the assault. By way of explanation, she said that "He had too much control over my life," following which she was eventually sentenced to 3 years under the control of the department of corrections. After the shooting, the Factory scene became much more tightly controlled, and for many this event brought the "Factory 60s" to an end.
shooting The shooting had a profound effect on Warhol's life and art. Warhol had this to say about the attack: "Before I was shot, I always thought that I was more half-there than all-there. I always suspected that I was watching TV instead of living life."
The 1970s Compared to the success and scandal of Warhol's work in the 1960s, the 1970s would prove a much quieter decade, as Warhol became more entrepreneurial. Warhol devoted much of his time to rounding up new, rich patrons for portrait commissions – including Mick Jagger, Liza Minnelli, John Lennon, Diana Ross, Brigitte Bardot, and Michael Jackson.Warhol's famous portrait of Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong was created in He also founded, with Gerard Malanga, Interview magazine, and published The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (1975). An idea expressed in the book: "Making money is art, and working is art and good business is the best art."
The 1980s Warhol had a re-emergence of critical and financial success in the 1980s By this period, Warhol was being criticized for becoming merely a "business artist. Warhol also had an appreciation for intense Hollywood glamour. He once said: "I love Los Angeles. I love Hollywood. They're so beautiful. Everything's plastic, but I love plastic. I want to be plastic.“ Warhol died in his sleep on February 22, 1987 at the age of