Early years
Andrew Warhola, aka Andy Warhol, was born 1-year before the Great Depression (1929-1941). He was the youngest of three boys and often sickly as a child. During bouts of malaise, he entertained himself by reading comics and celebrity tabloid magazines. When he wasn't bedridden, he would visit the theatre. In those days, you were given a glossy photo of the film's stars as part of your admission. Warhol's childhood scrapbook is full of such images.
An East Slavic people today inhabiting the far reaches of eastern Slovakia and southwestern Ukraine. His family were of Carpatho-Rusyn ancestry. Once when Andy was asked where he was from, he responded: “I am from nowhere.”
Whilst not strictly true, the Carpatho-Rusyns are such an obscure subgroup of Ukrainians that they may as well be anonymous. If you want to learn more about their one day as an independent republic, follow this link.
Pop Art
Given the time when Warhol was born, it’s no wonder he would become such a pivotal figure in the pop art movement. Pop art began as a revolt against dominant approaches to art. Young artists felt disconnected from what they learned in art school, as they didn’t see how it related to their daily lives. The Pop Art movement celebrated everyday objects and acknowledged the art within popular culture. Pop artists such as Warhol drew inspiration from Hollywood movies, product packaging, music and comic books. They were turning objects that we no longer looked at into pieces of art that we couldn't look away from.
I love pop art. It's an enjoyable art form full of bright colours and celebrates popular culture. It feels inclusive and achievable, like an art form that everyone can appreciate, not just those who have received an education in art appreciation.
I just paint things I always thought were beautiful, things you use every day and never think about. Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol is arguably the most famous name of the movement. He exploded into the art scene in the early 1960s, appropriating images of Campbell Soup cans (supposedly what his mother made him for lunch every day) and Brillo boxes. He mass-produced images of the stars he was fascinated with and created fine art through his treatment of these images.
On a side note, one of Jeff Koons's balloon dogs was recently shattered (accidentally) at an art fair, and I think I’m more gutted by that than all the climate protestors threatening Van Gogh’s sunflowers.
Career as a commercial Illustrator
Andy Warhol started his career as a commercial illustrator in New York. He was one of Madison Avenue's most popular advertising artists winning several Art Director Club awards during the course of his career. He also worked on LP cover designs, illustrated books and advertisements.
Warhol was well-known for his photographic silkscreen printing, or blotted line technique. I'll try describe how it works, but the video below may demonstrate it better.
The blotted line technique combines drawing with basic printmaking. In it the artist begins by tracing the outlines of a photograph on a piece of tracing paper. Next the artist hinges the paper to a sheet of normal (absorbent) paper. The artist then uses ink to trace over their line drawings, folds the paper back onto the absorbent paper and gently blots it. This step is repeated until the original image is recreated.
I was getting paid for it, and I did anything they told me to do. If they told me to draw a shoe, I'd do it, and if they told me to correct it, I would - I'd do anything they told me to do, correct it and do it right. Andy Warhol in G.R Swenson, Artnews, November 1963
Art:
Campbell's Soup:
Gallery owner Muriel Latow suggested to Warhol that he should paint objects that people use every day. This gave Warhol the idea to paint Cambell's soup can's, Brillo boxes, cans of Coca cola. Having grown up during the great depression, Warhol understood how to tap into the abundance of the current era. He recreated on canvas the experience of being in a supermarket. Warhol's art was both a celebration and criticism of consumer culture. Warhol's work put ordinary items at the forefront.
Gold Marilyn Monroe (1962):
After Marilyn Monroe's death and the international attention the tragedy of her life received, Warhol obtained a black and white publicity photo of her. He used this photo to create several series of images, and by reproducing her image over and over again, the viewer stops seeing Marilyn Monroe and instead sees an icon. Warhol's mass production of Monroe transforms her into an object of popular consumer culture.
Interestingly, title Gold Marilyn Monroe, is also a bit of a misnomer. Apparently Warhol once famously said that if you wanted to know anything about him, you should just look at the surface of his work. Scratching beneath the surface of Gold Marilyn Monroe, one discovers that he chose a paint blend that included a copper-based metal. A less precious metal than gold and some would say an intentional choice on his part.
The choice of a golden background with Monroe as the central figure, is very similar to Byzantine religious icons. This style of art was produced during the Middle Ages by the Byzantine Empire, or Eastern Roman Empire. The style is defined by devotional Christian subjects depicted in angular forms with sharp contours, flattened colour and gold decoration. But instead of looking at the image of a saint or God, we see an image of a celebrity. By portraying Monroe like this, Warhol is essentially criticising our society for elevating someone to the status of near saintlike proportions, whilst also betraying his own obsession with celebrity.
Filmmaking:
In the early 1960's Warhol directed his attention to filmmaking. He made over 650 films spanning a wide range of subjects. And by wide, I mean, in one of his films, the camera is fixed DeVeren Bookwalter's face as he's receiving fellatio. The title of the film is pretty self-evident .
Andy Warhol - Blowjob (1964) WARNING; nsfw!
Sleep:
Sleep was one or Warhol's earliest films and his first foray into durational film. Durational films became his signature style of filmmaking. The movie Sleep is 6 hours long and is a detailed exploration of his lover John Giorno sleeping. The movie demonstrates Warhol's attempt to perpetuate unstaged life conditions. Warhol wanted the film to be the same length as an average eight hours nights sleep, but due to technical difficulties he had to shoot less footage than he intended to. Warhol then stretched the film by slowdown editing techniques and resulted in a six hour long movie. In the movie we see Giorno through Warhol's eyes. A strip of his naked body in every scene.
Death and Disaster Series:
In 1962 Warhol began to cull images of tragic front-page news stories. He silkscreened the below image of a fatal car accident fourteen times. Warhol wanted to recreate the image by hand but found it easier to use a screen. The end result was an intentional, or unintentional, distancing of himself from the subject matter.
I tried doing them by hand, but I find it easier to use a screen. This way, I don't have to work on my objects at all. Andy Warhol