Wednesday, August 8, 2007

The Artist as Art - Andy Warhol


Image from All Posters.com.

Andy Warhol's influence on art and film is undeniable. I once sat through a four hour film he made during his warehouse days. It was an incredibly painful experience, the most gripping scene of the film was a model combing her hair slowly for a half hour. I sat through the entire thing just so I could say to film scholars that I had done it. Years later, I realize I completely missed the point. These films were not meant to be viewed, but rather they are moving paintings. How groovy it would be to go to one of Andy's parties with his moving paintings all around.
Andy's repetitive motifs are copied everywhere. Take a look at the back of a decorating magazine, there are probably one or more websites advertising the ability to make your photo into a Warholian art piece. For me, I love how Andy turned the mundane into art. A soup can, or box of brillo pads became pop art.

Most importantly, though, I think Andy taught us that the artist is actually the art. Andy was probably the first celebrity artist of such vast proportions. Andy had an intuitive grasp of the media, before the internet existed.

Was Andy actually a prophet? Could Andy have been forecasting the state of the internet? And might this fame be achieved through the miracle of flickr?

1 comment:

kim. said...

Some of my favourite art in my house is by Andy Warhol. I think he was a genius. His work is so modern, edgy and timeless. I mean, who else can rock electric chair art?

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