Andy Warhol, the artist and luminary responsible for the postmodern visual movement known as pop, would have been 84 yesterday. Though his death at 58 was woefully premature, I have a feeling he wouldn’t have wanted to be around today — or, on the contrary, maybe he would, if only to see that America has transmogrified completely into the vulgar, consumer-driven culture he envisioned more than fifty years ago. Nothing I say could ever do Andy proper justice, so I’ll pay him homage this way: beauty inspiration culled from the man himself, a self-proclaimed “deeply superficial person” who believed in “low lights and trick mirrors,” and from the glow-in-the-dark people he surrounded himself with. (Yes, that includes Edie.) Put on a bit of required listening brought to you by Lou, click through, and remember: “If everyone isn’t beautiful, then no one is.” Keep reading »
Tag Archives: the factory
Andy Warhol Got In Trouble With His Landlord, Too
Pop artist Andy Warhol raised a ruckus in the ’60s with his new approach to art and the wild lifestyle he promoted via The Factory, his silver foiled-decorated live/work artist space. But having a cast of thousands coming in and out of your apartment at all hours — including the Velvet Underground, Salvador Dali and Bob Dylan — was bound to piss off the neighbors. In a letter sent by his landlord Alfred Goldstein, Warhol was derided for throwing the very parties that helped skyrocket his scene to the stuff of legend. “We have been advised that you have been giving parties in the fourth floor space occupied by you,” read the letter. “We understand that they are generally large parties and are held after usual office hours. We have found that your guests have left debris and litter in the public areas which you have never bothered to clean.” Very shortly afterward, Warhol moved to a new space further downtown, leaving the original Factory behind, and further cementing himself as a permanent pop fixture. See, even Warhol couldn’t catch a break. [Letters of Note] Keep reading »
Warhol’s Candy Darling Gets Her Due
Candy Darling was a part of artist Andy Warhol’s inner circle–a muse and a flamboyant character in Warhol’s Factory scene. She was also a dark and troubled figure, immortalized in the Velvet Underground’s “Walk on the Wildside.” The new documentary, “Beautiful Darling,” chronicles Darling’s humble beginnings as a young boy and her rise to Warhol superstar. We can’t wait to see it. Keep reading »
