Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol (AW) was an artist; he was a master of controversy. By using the emblematical objects and pictures of his time, he became one of pop art's leaders. I think the quotation above can help us to understand his life.

Marilyn Monroe

AW was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as Andrew Warhola, in 1928. His parents were working class immigrants from Northeast Slovakia. AW had an early artistic talent, so he studied commercial art and got a Bachelor of Fine Art degree. In 1949, he moved to NYC, and began working in magazine illustration and advertising. He then worked for himself, and became a new type of artist, a new type of star, creator, director, actor. He founded "the factory," the name he gave his studio and the 18 employees who worked there. He used a new technique called screen painting or serigraphy. He died on February 22, 1987 in New York City, of a sudden heart attack, after a routine surgery.

Campbells Soup

Warhol gained fame by using the "key pictures" of American society, and working with them. He had a new philosophy: he wanted pieces of art not to be unique. He used massed-produced things in order to mass-produce the art itself. He made many series of portraits of famous people, as well as Coca-Cola, Lye boxes and Campbells soup cans, by screenpainting the images. Warhol said: "What's great about this country, is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. A Coke is a Coke, and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one one the bum on the corner is drinking." In addition, Warhol worked with disturbing pictures in works such as "Car Crash," "Electric Chair," and "Suicides." All these pictures are different variations of color, better to show the terrible reality. He made a series based on the dollar bill, and another serioes based on the sickle and hammer, in order to show the two sides of imperialism. All these series show a proximity beetween trade industry and mass production.

Electric Chair

AW also worked in cinema (65 films), mainly as a director, and sometimes as an actor. He worked with musicians, and he also wrote 64 books, which he published himself. He created a fashion magazine called Interwiew, and created two shows for television.

Self-Portrait

Warhol's life was his work. He was a mystery. He had a contentious sexuality. AW said a lot of different things about himself. He said he was a buisiness artist, and that money was what he liked the best. He seemed to use his art to engage in politics, but he said: "If you want to know all about AW, just look at the surface of my paintings and films and me, and there I am. Theres's nothing behind." He often played "dumb" to the media, and refused to explain his work. I think AW opened many minds and influenced many young artists. He opened our eyes in order to show us a different view of society, giving us another side of it. Andy Warhol, and pop art in general, used popular images in opposition to the elitist vision of art of some other artists. I choose AW because he made me discover art; I'd like to thank him for that.