Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol was born Andrew Warhola to a miner’s family of Slovak immigrants in Pittsburgh. Despite his humble origins he had enormous ambition, training as a graphic designer and soon acquiring numerous commissions from leading magazines.

Alongside advertising commissions Warhol started painting, staging his debut exhibition in 1962. His trademark subjects were already evident: the exhibition featured a series of Coca Cola bottles, tins of Campbell’s soup and dollar bills. Someone had advised him to paint the things he loved most.
Warhol aimed to elevate everyday banalities such as comics, advertising, fast food and glamour stars to the status of art. According to him ‘everything is beautiful, even car accidents, the electric chair or Marilyn Monroe after her death.’

After a period of painting he switched to silk screening, becoming the first international artist to popularize the technique. Silk screening also facilitated serial productions; a boon to Warhol who not only worked but also thought in series. His motto was ‘Quantity is Quality’.

Warhol was the first artist to dismiss personal style as unimportant. Taking consumer goods as his subject and rendering them in an emotionless way, Warhol can be considered as the purest exponent of pop art. The media were a particular source of inspiration, prompting Warhol to declare “I am married to my television”. Television and gossip magazines provided an endless stream of stars and glamour. Warhol was fascinated by the cult of stardom.

In 1963 he founded his famous studio The Factory, where a team of workers produced a constant stream of silkscreen prints, films, music and photographs. As his career progressed, Warhol increasingly became a work of art in his own right, constantly being pursued by the gossip magazines. Warhol revelled in the attention as long as it was amusing, status-enhancing and brought in the money.

Warhol’s work commanded astronomical prices. At the height of his career he not only dominated the art world but was also a leading figure in cinema, magazines, cable tv and music, founding the avant garde band Velvet Underground that used to practice in his factory. Andy Warhol became a trademark. He was a personality, the embodiment of the American Dream.