Andy Warhol (1928-1987)
- Holli Kalina
- Nov 17, 2024
- 2 min read
Andy Warhol was an American artist film producer and director. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the youngest of three sons born to Carpathian immigrants, Andrej and Julia Warhola. As a child, he briefly suffered from St Vitus’ Dance, a condition that affects children and causes involuntary jerky movements. The condition normally resolves itself with rest, occasionally with medication. A typical term is 3-6 months (Colebatch, n.d.)
Possibly due to other health issues and teasing that he suffered as a child Warhol became captivated in his later life by health and beauty regimes, supplements, exercise, and cutting-edge fashion, which he used to present an improved version of himself to the outside world.
Warhol graduated from university with a degree in pictorial design. He promptly moved to New York City to pursue a career as a commercial illustrator. Warhol achieved quick success, and his artwork appeared in a 1949 issue of Glamour magazine. During the 1950s he became an award-winning illustrator, and he used the revenue from his commercial work to fund his artistic ventures.
In the 1960s Warhol began to focus on pop art. Initially, he used painting to create his pop-art images, gradually moving to the screen printing techniques for which he is possibly most well-known. His first use of photographic silkscreen printing was in 1962. His now-famous print of Marilyn Monroe was one of his first works using screen printing over a pre-coloured background.
Prints of celebrities of the time including Elvis Presley, and Elizabeth Taylor, added to his popularity, and the screen printing process allowed him to reproduce the images relatively easily. Throughout the 1970s the list of celebrity portraits increased. Through contacts made in the pop and movie world and the additional interest of wealthy socialites, Warhol’s commissions escalated dramatically. (The Andy Warhol Museum, n.d.)
Throughout his career, Warhol used many forms of printing, drawing, and painting. In the 1980s he moved into television, fronting two shows in his name Andy Warhol’s T.V. (1980–83) and Andy Warhol’s Fifteen Minutes (1985–87) for MTV. The latter is a play on his now-famous quote “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” (Warhol cited in Ibid, n.d.)
It is Warhol’s best-known work, and process, that encouraged the choice of medium for my gendered triangle prints. I refer to his screen prints of celebrities. I particularly like the rough around-the-edges aesthetic of Warhol’s screen prints and his use of colour to supplement a mono print.
COLEBATCH, J., n.d. Sydenham’s Chorea (St Vitus’ Dance) [Viewed 16/11/2024]. Available from: https://brainfoundation.org.au/disorders/sydenhams-chorea/#:~:text=Treatment,to%20avoid%20further%20streptococcal%20infection.
SOTHERBY’S, 2024. Andy Warhol | Mick Jagger (F. & S. Ii.143) [Viewed 16/11/2024]. Available from: https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/prints-multiples-2/andy-warhol-mick-jagger-f-s-ii-143
THE ANDY WARHOL MUSEUM, n.d. the Warhol [Viewed 16/11/2024]. Available from: https://www.warhol.org/
TATE, n.d. Marylin Monroe (1971) [Viewed 16/11/2024]. Available from: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/warhol-no-title-p07121
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