Warhol Andy: biography and creativity

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

One of the founders of pop art, Andy Warhol, successfully turned his name into a brand. A multifaceted and versatile personality, he reliably inscribed himself in the history of the development of culture in the second half of the 20th century. What brought him such a resounding success?

Childhood

August 6, 1928 in a family of immigrants from Czechoslovakia Varhola, the fourth child was born, they named him Andrei. Andy Warhol is the pseudonym of Andrey Varhola. At the time of his birth, the family had already lived in the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for several years, so he rightfully took an American name for himself. The family had nothing to do with the creative environment. My father worked all his life in a coal mine, and his mother was a housewife.

In the 3rd grade, little Andrei fell ill with Sydenham's chorea. This disease causes involuntary jerky body movements. As a result, the boy had to spend a whole year at home. It was during this period that he became interested in drawing in order to somehow distract himself from the painful state. The plot did not have to hiccup for a long time, he simply drew what was before his eyes: light bulbs, key rings, empty cigarette packs. At the same time, he first began to make collages fromnewspaper clippings.

The start of the journey

Young and ambitious Andy Warhol decided to start his career by enrolling at the Carnegie Mellon Institute of Technology. He easily passed all the exams and began to study commercial illustration and graphic drawing. He turned out to be the best student on the course, but at the same time he could not find contact with teachers and classmates.

A young and talented American artist easily found work in New York. His first position was a window dresser. During these years, he drew posters, greeting cards, and was engaged in decorating stands. There was not much success at first.

One friend advised him: if you want to be rich, draw money. Andy took this advice literally, and began to draw one-dollar bills. At the same time, the discount coupons and the now legendary images of Campbell's soup were completed. It was the first success. He was quickly noticed and offered cooperation with leading glossy publications. Andy worked as an illustrator for Vogue and Harper's Bazaar magazines.

Stair up

One of the most successful people of his time, Andy Warhol, whose biography and work inspires even today, began his journey with advertising. The first successful project was advertising shoes I. Miller. It was a real success, contracts fell like rain, and the amount of fees constantly grew.

Already in 1952, his first exhibition took place. She brought her author even greater success. Andy was accepted into"Club of art editors". In the same period, he creates his own corporate identity based on screen printing. By this time, his earnings already exceeded $ 100,000 a year, and he was recognized as one of the most successful people of our time. One of the most expensive commissions is the design of a Coca-Cola can.

Templates, patterns, patterns…

1962 was a landmark year. At this time, the artist's passion for stencils intensifies. He took newspaper clippings or photographs as a basis, the original version was multiplied into many copies. Each piece was painted differently. The American artist was a slice of realism. The selection of colors was based on their compatibility.

At one time, the artist was strongly fascinated by tragic photographs. He took plots of murders, catastrophes, fires. Numerous repetitions enhanced the impression, and unnatural colors only helped to focus on the plot.

Andy Warhol continues to work in this technique further. The photo of Marilyn Monroe inspired the artist for a long time. Marilyn in neon colors has become a kind of icon of pop art.

Factory

Warhol Andy brought the philosophy of technology to art. He said more than once that he would like to become a machine. Thinking the same and looking the same, like machines - that's what humanity must come to. Based on this idea, a creative workshop was created, which he called "Factory". To create the necessary entourage, the entire room was covered with aluminum.

"Factory" Warhol began to gather like-minded people around him. work brigadereplenished with several assistants. Although the general direction was the same, the assistants had some freedom. They independently selected images for new stencils and learned from the meter how to combine colors.

Director

The same “Factory” became the place where cinema was born. Andy became almost the only known director of cinema in the underground style. His first works introduced the viewer into a hypnotic state. These are the paintings "Sleep" and "Empire". In the first, throughout the entire tape, just a sleeping person, the second offers a contemplation of the Empire State Building at night. The picture lasts several hours, while without any musical accompaniment.

In the future, a movie appears with a plot that is mostly erotic in nature. One of the first feature films - "Garbage". The very process of work and the plot of the picture is a parody and a mockery of commercial cinema.

In 1966, Warhol began working with the Velvet Underground. He makes films and produces several albums. Andy personally designs their first album. The cover features a graphic image of a banana on a clean background. Now it is one of the most recognizable works of the artist.

Magazine

This person is not only an artist, director and producer of a musical group, he is also a magazine publisher. Andy Warhol created the magazine Interview. The main goal of the publication is to bring modern culture to the masses.

Interviews of bright creative personalities were published on the pages of the magazineof their time: musicians, artists, actors, directors. He was one of the first to open the veil of secrecy over the lives of famous personalities. Glory, sex outrageousness and delicacy perfectly coexist here. But the circle of people is not limited to pop art and the underground, the publication does not adhere to a certain style and works in all directions.

The magazine is still alive and has already been published in several countries. He came to Russia in 2011. The new generation diligently follows the traditions laid down by the founder.

Attempt

July 3, 1968 Warhol, as always, worked in his studio. One of his actresses, Valerie Solanas, entered and fired three shots into the artist's abdomen. After that, she calmly went out into the street, and confessed to the first patrol officer of her deed. However, she did not feel remorse, and made the attempt quite deliberately. Andy suffered clinical death, but as a result of a long and complicated operation, doctors managed to save his life. He flatly refused to give accusatory evidence, complacently forgiving his model. Solanas escaped with three years in prison and compulsory treatment.

Some believe that Valerie was an ardent feminist. But she herself claims that she was trying in this way to attract his attention to herself. Talking to him was like talking to furniture, she argued. The version of the unfortunate love seems more plausible, all things considered.

Having been on the threshold of the worlds, the artist becomes more pious, and begins to attend church regularly. In worksthis time, the theme of violent death is often viewed.

Private life

Andy Warhol, whose biography was carefully concealed, still failed to completely free himself from public discussion of his personal life.

He was constantly credited with a relationship with Edie Sedgwick. He met this sweet girl with a charming smile in 1995. A thin, fragile 17-year-old girl delighted the already eminent artist. He repeatedly called her his muse.

It is still not clear if they were romantically linked or not, but one thing is a fact. They appeared everywhere together, as if the twins dressed the same. To please Andy, the girl even cut her luxurious hair and dyed it platinum blonde. But the idyll did not last forever, for unknown reasons they quarreled right in the restaurant, they were never seen together again.

Many researchers of Andy Warhol's personal life claim that he was gay, and there simply could not be a relationship with Edie. Much about life and work can be learned from the diaries kept by Andy Warhol: biography, photos, hangouts and the creative process. Recordings were kept for 10 years, and after the death of the artist were published.

Artist, director, producer, publisher - Andy Warhol has distinguished himself in almost all directions and left a bright neon brushstroke in the history of contemporary art. His work continues to inspire a younger generation of creatives, and he raised quite a few followers on his own at the Art Factory. Unusuala person with an unusual fate, a vivid example of a person who independently achieved everything he dreamed of.