Andy Warhol
Created | Updated Jul 19, 2005
Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol was a prominent artist in the 60s 70s and 80s. He is most rembered for his paintings and films, and is known as one of the most influencial members of the pop art movement.
Warhol was born Andrew Warhola on August 6, 1928 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. He was born to two parents of Ruthenian ethnicity. His father was killed in a construction accident when andy was 13 years old.
From a young age Warhol showed an interest in art. After completing highschool he attended the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now known as Carnegie Melon) for commercial art. Warhol graduated from the University in 1949 and moved to New York City where he began a career in magazine illustration. Warhol gained much popularity from is illustrations, especially his drawings of womens shoes done in a unique blotted ink style. It was around this time that he changed his name from Warhola to Warhol. Due to an error on a magazine page the 'A' was cut off the end of his name. After seeing this he found that he liked the new spelling and officially changed it.
In the 60s warhol began making paintings of everyday objects. His paintings of Campbell's soup cans and Coka Cola bottles are some of his most well known. He soon switched to silkscreening in order of mass produce art and further press his philosophy that if you point at something and call it art, then it is.
Through the 70s and 80s Warhol's work consisted primarily of his famous prints of people, most notably Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, and Liz Taylor. Icons and famous personalities became the theme of Warhol's work.
In addition to paintings Warhol also produced a number of films. During the 60s he produced over sixty films such as Sleep, Empire, and Blow Job.
The Factory is the name given to Warhol's studio. Located on 221 East 47th Street in Manhattan from 1963 to 1967, then was moved to 33 Union Square West at the end of 1967. Here he employed 'art workers' to mass produce prints and posters. The interior of the Factory was covered in tin foil and silver paint.
In addition to being the studio in which Warhol and his workers worked, but rhe Factory was also the hangout for other artists, drug users, and many of Warhol's collection of Superstar friends.
Warhol wanted to keep space empty. He would keep a cardboard box around to stick odds and ends in his apartment that he wanted out of the way. Cards, letters, bills, newspaper clippings and assorted paraphernalia went into these boxes that he called time capsules. When one was full an assistant would tape it closed, date it, and put it in storage.
The time capsules were almost completely unknown until his death. Although many of his assistants handled these packages the really only knew them as boxes of 'Andy's Stuff' that took up valuable room in the studio and offices. It wasn't until the opening of the Warhol Museum in 1994 that these boxes became accesable to scholars and the general public. Althogether there are over 600 time capsules. These are being opened and examined providing extra insight into the life and artistic process of Andy Warhol.
Andy Warhol was a prominent artist in the 60s 70s and 80s. He is most rembered for his paintings and films, and is known as one of the most influencial members of the pop art movement.
Warhol was born Andrew Warhola on August 6, 1928 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. He was born to two parents of Ruthenian ethnicity. His father was killed in a construction accident when andy was 13 years old.
From a young age Warhol showed an interest in art. After completing highschool he attended the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now known as Carnegie Melon) for commercial art. Warhol graduated from the University in 1949 and moved to New York City where he began a career in magazine illustration. Warhol gained much popularity from is illustrations, especially his drawings of womens shoes done in a unique blotted ink style. It was around this time that he changed his name from Warhola to Warhol. Due to an error on a magazine page the 'A' was cut off the end of his name. After seeing this he found that he liked the new spelling and officially changed it.
Paintings
In the 60s warhol began making paintings of everyday objects. His paintings of Campbell's soup cans and Coka Cola bottles are some of his most well known. He soon switched to silkscreening in order of mass produce art and further press his philosophy that if you point at something and call it art, then it is.
Through the 70s and 80s Warhol's work consisted primarily of his famous prints of people, most notably Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, and Liz Taylor. Icons and famous personalities became the theme of Warhol's work.
Film
In addition to paintings Warhol also produced a number of films. During the 60s he produced over sixty films such as Sleep, Empire, and Blow Job.
The Factory
The Factory is the name given to Warhol's studio. Located on 221 East 47th Street in Manhattan from 1963 to 1967, then was moved to 33 Union Square West at the end of 1967. Here he employed 'art workers' to mass produce prints and posters. The interior of the Factory was covered in tin foil and silver paint.
In addition to being the studio in which Warhol and his workers worked, but rhe Factory was also the hangout for other artists, drug users, and many of Warhol's collection of Superstar friends.
Time Capsules
"What you should do is get a box for a month, and drop everything in it and at the end of the month lock it up. Then date it and send it over to Jersey."
--The Philosophy of Andy Warhol: From A to B and Back Again
Warhol wanted to keep space empty. He would keep a cardboard box around to stick odds and ends in his apartment that he wanted out of the way. Cards, letters, bills, newspaper clippings and assorted paraphernalia went into these boxes that he called time capsules. When one was full an assistant would tape it closed, date it, and put it in storage.
The time capsules were almost completely unknown until his death. Although many of his assistants handled these packages the really only knew them as boxes of 'Andy's Stuff' that took up valuable room in the studio and offices. It wasn't until the opening of the Warhol Museum in 1994 that these boxes became accesable to scholars and the general public. Althogether there are over 600 time capsules. These are being opened and examined providing extra insight into the life and artistic process of Andy Warhol.
