(1928 - 1987)

ANDY WARHOL
such as John Wallowitch, the Rolling Stones, Diana Ross, and Aretha Franklin. Warhol experimented with silk screen printmaking as a technique for making paintings first using hand-drawn images and later using photographs. Warhol developed his own style by applying the ink to paper and then blotting the ink before it was dry to intentionally allow for smudges and smears. In 1962 Andy established The Factory, his New York City Studio located originally in midtown Manhattan. The studio was also known as The Silver Factory, since the walls were designed with aluminum foil and silver paint. Here he gathered artists, writers, musicians, and filmmakers. Between 1963 and 1968, Andy made more than 60 films. One of his most famous films, Sleep, simply shows poet John Giorno sleeping for six hours. He made a 35-minute film Blow Job, which is one continuous shot of DeVeren Bookwalter supposedly receiving oral sex from filmmaker Willard Maas, while never tilting down to show the act. Empire, created in 1964, depicts the Empire State Building in New York City for eight hours at dusk. One film, Eat, shows a man eating a mushroom for 45 minutes. That same year, Warhol conveyed his interest in the Batman series by making the film Batman Dracula. However, Warhol created the film without the permission of DC Comics and it was only screened at his own art exhibits. In 1965 the film Vinyl was created as Warhols adaptation of the novel, A Clockwork Orange. It was in 1966 when his most successful film, Chelsea Girls, was regarded for its innovation by projecting two films

Andy Warhol was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on August 6th, 1928. Andy was the fourth child of Andrew, who immigrated to the US in 1914, and Julia Warhol, who followed in 1921 from what is today Slovakia. Warhols father worked in a coal mine and the family lived in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh. When Andy was in the third grade he contracted chorea, a disease which affects the nervous system causing involuntary movements of his extremities and skin blotches. Warhol became a hypochondriac, he was scared of the doctors and being in the hospital. However, the disease left Andy bedridden and as a result, he spent most of his time at home with his mother. It was during this time that he drew and collected pictures of movie stars to put around his bed. Warhol graduated from Schenley High School in 1945 and though he was never diagnosed, he is believed to have been dyslexic. He then enrolled in the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now known as Carnegie Mellon University) with plans to become a commercial illustrator and graduated in 1949 with a Bachelors degree of Fine Arts in Graphic Design. Andy moved to New York City after graduation and began working in advertising and illustration for magazines. After his first exhibit at the Bodley Gallery in New York, he was hired by RCA Records to design album covers and promotional materials. Warhol adopted the band the Velvet Underground and with Paul Morrissey, acted as the bands manager while producing the album art. He designed album covers for artists

simultaneously to depict two different stories. Throughout the 1960s Warhol began to make paintings of popular celebrities including Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Marlon Brando, Muhammed Ali, and Elizabeth Taylor. He also developed a focus on American iconic objects such as Campbells soup cans and Coca-Cola bottles while also drawing attention to major newspaper headlines and photographs. It was also during this time that Andy began creating films at the studio. Andy displayed his work at several exhibits in New York City and California. On July 9th, 1962, he had his art gallery exhibition in Los Angeles at the Ferus Gallery. His first solo pop art exhibition occurred at Eleanor Wards Stable Gallery from November 6th to the 24th in 1962. The gallery included his Marilyn Diptych, 100 Soup cans, 100 Coke Bottles, and 100 Dollar Bills. At a Symposium on pop ar, held in December 1962 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York , artists such as Warhol were criticized for taking advantage of consumerism by critics. An exhibit in 1964 called The American Supermarket was held at Paul Bianchinis Upper East Side gallery which recreated a supermarket setting but everything was created by six pop artists including Billy Apple, Mary Inman, and Robert Watts along with Warhol. On June 3, 1968, Valerie Solanas, an author and actress who appears in Warhols film I, a Man, shot Warhol and art critic Mario Amaya at Warhols studio. Earlier that day Solanas was asked to leave the Factory after asking for the return of a script she had given to Warhol which was misplaced. Amaya received minor injuries while Warhol was seriously wounded and his heart almost stopped. Solanas was arrested and the Factory became a more tightly controlled studio to avoid any future incidents. Warhol began to focus most of his time acquiring rich patrons for portraits including the Mick Jagger, Liza Minnelli, John Lennon, Diana Ross, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (the Shah of Iran) along with his wife, Farah Pahlavi, and sister Princess Ashraf Pahlavi. In 1973, he developed his famous portrait of Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong. Warhol shifted his interest to commercially marketing, selling, and mass producing his works. Warhol founded Interview magazine, along with long time collaborator Gerard Malanga, and published The Philosophy of

Andy Warhol in 1975. The book emphasized his ideas connecting art and business and described good business as the best art. In 1979, Andy and Stuart Piyar founded the New York Academy of Art. He was later criticized for becoming a business artist, and his portraits were described as superficial and commercial; having no real artistic significance and instead measured by potential value for sale. In 1980, at an exhibit at the Jewish Museum in New York entitled Jewish Geniuses, Warhol was noted for saying the portraits are going to sell. However, some critics declared Warhol as brilliant for reflecting the spirit of the American culture in 1970s. Andy Warhol died on February 22nd, 1987, in New York City. He was recovering from a routine gallbladder surgery at New York Hospital however, he died in his sleep from sudden cardiac arrhythmia. As described in his will, most of his possessions were auctioned over nine days to raise over $20 Million, which was then used to establish the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. The foundation is on the largest grant giving organizations for the visual arts in the US. In 1994, the Andy Warhol Museum was established as one of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. It is the largest museum in the US that is dedicated to a single artist, holding an extensive permanent collection and archives created by Andy Warhol.