Modern Art Paper.....How does it sound?
Andy Warhol (1928-1987), was an American artist best known for his images of common objects or famous people. “Warhol’s style made him a leading figure of the pop art movement in the 1960’s” (Eldredge).
“Warhol studied at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh from 1945 to 1949 and then moved to New York to begin working as a commercial artist and illustrator for magazines and newspapers” (Livingstone, 1).
“Warhol’s work appropriated the images of American popular culture for the purposes of high art, creating portraits that celebrate a superficial, banal, and sometimes violent society. Warhol himself embraced-or seemed to embrace-all of the most superficial qualities of his era. He was obsessed with personal fame and wealth and was a fixture on the New York celebrity scene for almost three decades” (Gale).
“Warhol continued to support himself through his commercial work until at least 1963, but from 1960 he determined to establish his name as a painter. Motivated by a desire to be taken seriously as the young artists who he had recently come to know and admire, especially Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, he began by painting a series of pictures based on crude advertisements and on images from comic strips “Livingstone, 1).
“He was drawn to the shocking images of tabloid newspapers, as in 129 Die in Jet (Plane Crash), to money (in a series of screen printed paintings representing rows of dollar bills) and in the denigrated products of consumer society, including Coca-Cola bottles and tins of Campbell’s Soup (e.g. One Hundred Cans, 1962; Buffalo, NY, Albright-Knox A.G.). (Livingstone, 1).
“From autumn 1962 Warhol’s paintings were made almost exclusively by screen-printing photographic images on to backgrounds painted in a single color or in flat interlocking areas that corresponded approximately to the contours of the superimposed images” (Livingstone, 1). “With silkscreening you pick a photograph, blow it up, transfer it in glue onto silk, and then roll ink across it so the ink goes through the silk but not the glue. That way you get the same image, slightly different each time. It was all so simple quick and chancy” (Andy Warhol) (www.webexhibits.org).
“In 1965, Warhol announced his intention to retire from painting in order to devote himself to the experimental films that he had begun making in 1963” (Livingstone, 1).
“The Factory, located at 221 East 47th Street in Manhattan, was Warhol’s studio from 1963-1967 when the East 47th building was torn down. The Factory was the hip hangout for artsy types, amphetamine users, and the Warhol superstars. This is where Warhol would make his silkscreens. The Factory became a meeting place of artists and would-be-artists such as Mick Jagger, Lou Reed, David Bowie, and Truman Capote. Warhol became manager of Reed’s influential New York rock band The Velvet Underground in 1965” (http://en/wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Warhol).
“On June 3, 1968, Valerie Solanas, a Factory regular, entered Warhol’s studio and fired three shots at Warhol, nearly killing him. Although the first two rounds missed, the third passed through Warhol’s left lung, spleen, stomach, liver, esophagus, and right lung […] Mr. Warhol himself ultimately forgave Valerie for shooting him and later satirized the whole event in a subsequent movie of his, calling a group similar to Solanas’ S.C.U.M. (Society for Cutting Up Men), P.I.G. (Politically Involved Girlies)” (http://en/wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Warhol).
“In 1952 Andy Warhol had his first one-man show exhibition at the Hugo Gallery in New York. In 1956 he had an important group exhibition at the renowned Museum of Modern Art” (www.artelino.com).
“Warhol was a homosexual with a slightly bizarre personality. In the fifties he died his hair straw-blond. Later he replaced his real hair by blond and silver-grey wigs. The pop artist loved cats, and images of them can be found on quite a few of his art works. In his last years Warhol promoted other artists like Keith Haring or Robert Mapplethorpe” (www.artelino.com). “Jean Gould, a Paramount Pictures vice president who during the early ‘80s was Warhol’s “romantic obsession,” according to a museum spokesman. Though their relationship was likely platonic, Gould lived with Warhol for a time, and by the time Gould died in 1986, he had amassed a trove of Warhol treasures” (Stockwell).
“Warhol became a hero to many young people in the sixties because he seemed to be the ultimate anti-parent,” wrote a New Yorker correspondent” (Gale).
“Andy Warhol died February 22, 1987 from complications after a gall bladder operation. More than 2,000 people attended the memorial mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The pop art icon Warhol was also a religious man-a little known fact” (www.artelino.com).
“At his death in 1987, he was a multimillionaire who had used the techniques of mass production to create an enormous output of art and photography” (Gale).
“Some critics argued that Warhol’s work was a joke. Others labeled it the product of genius, an ironic critique of American consumerism and its attendant sociological ills” (Gale).
“Banality was one of Warhol’s favorite themes. He sought to obliterate all personality and sensibility from his art, first by using machines and assistants to create it, then by concentrating on repetition and monotony” (Gale). What did Warhol mean by the concentration of repetition and monotony? This concept was clearly demonstrated in Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe:
Although Marilyn Monroe died before Warhol printed this famous silkscreen, today it remains one of the most easily recognized Warhol painting to this day. A global sensation in her lifetime, Marilyn's popularity has extended beyond star status to icon. Today, the name "Marilyn Monroe" is synonymous with beauty, sensuality and effervescence. She remains an inspiration to all who strive to overcome personal obstacles for the goal of achieving greatness. This iconic beauty was recognized by Warhol and I believe that is why he may have utilized her photograph in his artwork. (Warhol also painted the likeness of Elvis Presley, Jackie O. Kennedy, Gretta Garbo, and Princess Diana).
These works are so vibrant and colorful. They captured the epitome of American Pop Art. Drawing upon ideals first described by Karl Marx, Warhol has been able to live up to the reputation of being known as the “superficial obliterator”. Each picture has lost its sensibility and personality. Indeed, Warhol was a marketing genius and was able to succeed because he found a way to manipulate the masses and marketed a trove of wonderful treasures for all of us to display.
I found this particular piece of art by Warhol to be fascinating. It draws attention to Warhol and his true self. You will notice an aquamarine colored star with “ANDY WARHOL” written on it. It is the largest star on the paper which seems to me would be an indication that this is a self reflection. Various words of interest scattered throughout the painting include: Factory, Cross Dressing, Formalism, Fame, Icons, Drugs, Mistakes, Self-Promotion, Minimalism, and Control. This would prove Gale’s claim that Warhol was “obsessed with personal fame and wealth and was a fixture on the New York celebrity scene”.
My interest in Warhol goes back to the early 1990’s when I first
heard of Warhol mentioned in a song by my favorite band of all time,
The GO-GO’s entitled “Party Pose” Sample of lyrics from the song as follows:
See me pose
Having so much fun
Champagne glass in my hand
My put on smile
On my painted face
I show no trace of boredom
See me laugh
At your jokes
Your gossiping lips
You look so divine, so divine
In your Fiorucci dress
Your party is finesse
Charming, darling
Party pose
Let's pretend
Jet set
Rive Gauche
Party pose
Quite dull
Moet Chandon
Andy Warhol
See me fit
The stylish crowd
Hear the stories
The worldly wise
Exaggerate
We've been around
We've seen it all
We're so profound
I have heard the name Andy Warhol in junior high school, but didn’t think anything of it. Eventually I learned that he was the one responsible for the Campbell’s soup can decorations. I haven’t really thought much of Warhol until I had completed FAS 202: Introduction to Humanities II with Dr. Andrew Laurie Stangel at Southern New Hampshire University, Manchester, New Hampshire.
Why did I choose Andy Warhol as a research topic? Good question. A group of my closest gay friends had introduced me to the idea of becoming familiar with what one calls in the “gay world” a “gay icon”-someone who embodies the characteristics of a leader and does well to humanity and is a supporter in the rights of all people, especially gays. Gay icons familiar to most people include: Judy Garland, Cher, Madonna, Elton John, Liza Minnelli, Rock Hudson, Marilyn Monroe, Doris Day, Ellen Degeneres, and of course, Andy Warhol. I was inspired to explore the arts and to search myself for something to believe in. Andy Warhol’s personality resembles my own in a lot. For example, I dye my hair a wide variety of colors from bleach blonde to jaguar green and even electric blue. I too am an avid cat lover, have a slight disregard for authority figures in society. My heritage is also Western European as well. I too have a strong ambition to succeed and be successful and rich. After researching Warhol, I found him to be a complete enigmatic and ingenious person that I ended up admiring.
Some say his work was careless, trashy, and not worth paying attention to. Others may say the opposite. I think Warhol’s work was driving home the fact that in the 1960’s, American culture was thriving on economics, politics, and revolutionary ideals. I found his work to be pleasing and intensely thought provoking. A disregard for pattern, tradition, and sensibility. I think Warhol was fairly popular within his time period and was given enough praise and admiration by people from all walks of life. It was nice to research someone I knew very little about. In closing I would like to include something I found worthwhile-The obituary of Andy Warhol himself:
OBITUARY
Name originally Andrew Warhola; born August 6, 1927, in Pittsburgh, PA; died of a heart attack following gall bladder surgery, February 22, 1987, in New York, NY. Artist, filmmaker, and author. Warhol was probably the most famous American artist of his time. He was known for his deliberately banal approach to life and art, and he earned acclaim for celebrity portraits and reproductions of commercial products. Warhol began his career in the early 1950’s as a commercial artist in New York City. By 1960 he had begun incorporating commercial elements into his own paintings and silkscreenings, and by the mid 1960’s he was well known for his renditions of Campbell’s soup tins and Coca-Cola bottles. His silk screens, too, earned him fame, particularly those featuring celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe or Elvis Presley. Warhol also imposed his calculatedly superficial perspective on media such as film and literature. In the early 1960’s he began directing with films such as “Sleep,” a six hour work featuring only a sleeping man, and “Empire,” an eight hour work showing only the Empire State Building. Subsequent films offered increased activity, and one such work, “Chelsea Girls,” included several characters-leading dull lives-and covered by two movie screens. By the late 1960’s, Warhol had developed a considerable entourage of actors, artists, and eccentrics. His studio was known as the Factory, and it became a prominent nightspot for New York City’s more extreme elements. One such woman attempted to kill Warhol at the Factory, firing several shots into his chest. He survived the attempt, but the event exerted an extreme influence on his subsequent behavior. He became more withdrawn, and though he maintained a hectic social schedule he contributed little to the actual fanfare at various events. Throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s.
“Warhol studied at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh from 1945 to 1949 and then moved to New York to begin working as a commercial artist and illustrator for magazines and newspapers” (Livingstone, 1).
“Warhol’s work appropriated the images of American popular culture for the purposes of high art, creating portraits that celebrate a superficial, banal, and sometimes violent society. Warhol himself embraced-or seemed to embrace-all of the most superficial qualities of his era. He was obsessed with personal fame and wealth and was a fixture on the New York celebrity scene for almost three decades” (Gale).
“Warhol continued to support himself through his commercial work until at least 1963, but from 1960 he determined to establish his name as a painter. Motivated by a desire to be taken seriously as the young artists who he had recently come to know and admire, especially Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, he began by painting a series of pictures based on crude advertisements and on images from comic strips “Livingstone, 1).
“He was drawn to the shocking images of tabloid newspapers, as in 129 Die in Jet (Plane Crash), to money (in a series of screen printed paintings representing rows of dollar bills) and in the denigrated products of consumer society, including Coca-Cola bottles and tins of Campbell’s Soup (e.g. One Hundred Cans, 1962; Buffalo, NY, Albright-Knox A.G.). (Livingstone, 1).
“From autumn 1962 Warhol’s paintings were made almost exclusively by screen-printing photographic images on to backgrounds painted in a single color or in flat interlocking areas that corresponded approximately to the contours of the superimposed images” (Livingstone, 1). “With silkscreening you pick a photograph, blow it up, transfer it in glue onto silk, and then roll ink across it so the ink goes through the silk but not the glue. That way you get the same image, slightly different each time. It was all so simple quick and chancy” (Andy Warhol) (www.webexhibits.org).
“In 1965, Warhol announced his intention to retire from painting in order to devote himself to the experimental films that he had begun making in 1963” (Livingstone, 1).
“The Factory, located at 221 East 47th Street in Manhattan, was Warhol’s studio from 1963-1967 when the East 47th building was torn down. The Factory was the hip hangout for artsy types, amphetamine users, and the Warhol superstars. This is where Warhol would make his silkscreens. The Factory became a meeting place of artists and would-be-artists such as Mick Jagger, Lou Reed, David Bowie, and Truman Capote. Warhol became manager of Reed’s influential New York rock band The Velvet Underground in 1965” (http://en/wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Warhol).
“On June 3, 1968, Valerie Solanas, a Factory regular, entered Warhol’s studio and fired three shots at Warhol, nearly killing him. Although the first two rounds missed, the third passed through Warhol’s left lung, spleen, stomach, liver, esophagus, and right lung […] Mr. Warhol himself ultimately forgave Valerie for shooting him and later satirized the whole event in a subsequent movie of his, calling a group similar to Solanas’ S.C.U.M. (Society for Cutting Up Men), P.I.G. (Politically Involved Girlies)” (http://en/wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Warhol).
“In 1952 Andy Warhol had his first one-man show exhibition at the Hugo Gallery in New York. In 1956 he had an important group exhibition at the renowned Museum of Modern Art” (www.artelino.com).
“Warhol was a homosexual with a slightly bizarre personality. In the fifties he died his hair straw-blond. Later he replaced his real hair by blond and silver-grey wigs. The pop artist loved cats, and images of them can be found on quite a few of his art works. In his last years Warhol promoted other artists like Keith Haring or Robert Mapplethorpe” (www.artelino.com). “Jean Gould, a Paramount Pictures vice president who during the early ‘80s was Warhol’s “romantic obsession,” according to a museum spokesman. Though their relationship was likely platonic, Gould lived with Warhol for a time, and by the time Gould died in 1986, he had amassed a trove of Warhol treasures” (Stockwell).
“Warhol became a hero to many young people in the sixties because he seemed to be the ultimate anti-parent,” wrote a New Yorker correspondent” (Gale).
“Andy Warhol died February 22, 1987 from complications after a gall bladder operation. More than 2,000 people attended the memorial mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The pop art icon Warhol was also a religious man-a little known fact” (www.artelino.com).
“At his death in 1987, he was a multimillionaire who had used the techniques of mass production to create an enormous output of art and photography” (Gale).
“Some critics argued that Warhol’s work was a joke. Others labeled it the product of genius, an ironic critique of American consumerism and its attendant sociological ills” (Gale).
“Banality was one of Warhol’s favorite themes. He sought to obliterate all personality and sensibility from his art, first by using machines and assistants to create it, then by concentrating on repetition and monotony” (Gale). What did Warhol mean by the concentration of repetition and monotony? This concept was clearly demonstrated in Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe:
Although Marilyn Monroe died before Warhol printed this famous silkscreen, today it remains one of the most easily recognized Warhol painting to this day. A global sensation in her lifetime, Marilyn's popularity has extended beyond star status to icon. Today, the name "Marilyn Monroe" is synonymous with beauty, sensuality and effervescence. She remains an inspiration to all who strive to overcome personal obstacles for the goal of achieving greatness. This iconic beauty was recognized by Warhol and I believe that is why he may have utilized her photograph in his artwork. (Warhol also painted the likeness of Elvis Presley, Jackie O. Kennedy, Gretta Garbo, and Princess Diana).
These works are so vibrant and colorful. They captured the epitome of American Pop Art. Drawing upon ideals first described by Karl Marx, Warhol has been able to live up to the reputation of being known as the “superficial obliterator”. Each picture has lost its sensibility and personality. Indeed, Warhol was a marketing genius and was able to succeed because he found a way to manipulate the masses and marketed a trove of wonderful treasures for all of us to display.
I found this particular piece of art by Warhol to be fascinating. It draws attention to Warhol and his true self. You will notice an aquamarine colored star with “ANDY WARHOL” written on it. It is the largest star on the paper which seems to me would be an indication that this is a self reflection. Various words of interest scattered throughout the painting include: Factory, Cross Dressing, Formalism, Fame, Icons, Drugs, Mistakes, Self-Promotion, Minimalism, and Control. This would prove Gale’s claim that Warhol was “obsessed with personal fame and wealth and was a fixture on the New York celebrity scene”.
My interest in Warhol goes back to the early 1990’s when I first
heard of Warhol mentioned in a song by my favorite band of all time,
The GO-GO’s entitled “Party Pose” Sample of lyrics from the song as follows:
See me pose
Having so much fun
Champagne glass in my hand
My put on smile
On my painted face
I show no trace of boredom
See me laugh
At your jokes
Your gossiping lips
You look so divine, so divine
In your Fiorucci dress
Your party is finesse
Charming, darling
Party pose
Let's pretend
Jet set
Rive Gauche
Party pose
Quite dull
Moet Chandon
Andy Warhol
See me fit
The stylish crowd
Hear the stories
The worldly wise
Exaggerate
We've been around
We've seen it all
We're so profound
I have heard the name Andy Warhol in junior high school, but didn’t think anything of it. Eventually I learned that he was the one responsible for the Campbell’s soup can decorations. I haven’t really thought much of Warhol until I had completed FAS 202: Introduction to Humanities II with Dr. Andrew Laurie Stangel at Southern New Hampshire University, Manchester, New Hampshire.
Why did I choose Andy Warhol as a research topic? Good question. A group of my closest gay friends had introduced me to the idea of becoming familiar with what one calls in the “gay world” a “gay icon”-someone who embodies the characteristics of a leader and does well to humanity and is a supporter in the rights of all people, especially gays. Gay icons familiar to most people include: Judy Garland, Cher, Madonna, Elton John, Liza Minnelli, Rock Hudson, Marilyn Monroe, Doris Day, Ellen Degeneres, and of course, Andy Warhol. I was inspired to explore the arts and to search myself for something to believe in. Andy Warhol’s personality resembles my own in a lot. For example, I dye my hair a wide variety of colors from bleach blonde to jaguar green and even electric blue. I too am an avid cat lover, have a slight disregard for authority figures in society. My heritage is also Western European as well. I too have a strong ambition to succeed and be successful and rich. After researching Warhol, I found him to be a complete enigmatic and ingenious person that I ended up admiring.
Some say his work was careless, trashy, and not worth paying attention to. Others may say the opposite. I think Warhol’s work was driving home the fact that in the 1960’s, American culture was thriving on economics, politics, and revolutionary ideals. I found his work to be pleasing and intensely thought provoking. A disregard for pattern, tradition, and sensibility. I think Warhol was fairly popular within his time period and was given enough praise and admiration by people from all walks of life. It was nice to research someone I knew very little about. In closing I would like to include something I found worthwhile-The obituary of Andy Warhol himself:
OBITUARY
Name originally Andrew Warhola; born August 6, 1927, in Pittsburgh, PA; died of a heart attack following gall bladder surgery, February 22, 1987, in New York, NY. Artist, filmmaker, and author. Warhol was probably the most famous American artist of his time. He was known for his deliberately banal approach to life and art, and he earned acclaim for celebrity portraits and reproductions of commercial products. Warhol began his career in the early 1950’s as a commercial artist in New York City. By 1960 he had begun incorporating commercial elements into his own paintings and silkscreenings, and by the mid 1960’s he was well known for his renditions of Campbell’s soup tins and Coca-Cola bottles. His silk screens, too, earned him fame, particularly those featuring celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe or Elvis Presley. Warhol also imposed his calculatedly superficial perspective on media such as film and literature. In the early 1960’s he began directing with films such as “Sleep,” a six hour work featuring only a sleeping man, and “Empire,” an eight hour work showing only the Empire State Building. Subsequent films offered increased activity, and one such work, “Chelsea Girls,” included several characters-leading dull lives-and covered by two movie screens. By the late 1960’s, Warhol had developed a considerable entourage of actors, artists, and eccentrics. His studio was known as the Factory, and it became a prominent nightspot for New York City’s more extreme elements. One such woman attempted to kill Warhol at the Factory, firing several shots into his chest. He survived the attempt, but the event exerted an extreme influence on his subsequent behavior. He became more withdrawn, and though he maintained a hectic social schedule he contributed little to the actual fanfare at various events. Throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s.