Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol (born Andrew Warhola; the original surname of his parents was Varchola) August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American painter, film-maker, publisher and a major figure in the pop art movement.

Related Topics:
August 6 - 1928 - February 22 - 1987 - American - Pop art

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Warhol was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, to immigrants of Ruthenian ethnicity from the village of Mikova, northeast Slovakia. He showed early artistic talent and studied commercial art at the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now known as Carnegie Mellon University) in Pittsburgh. Upon graduating in 1949, he moved to New York City and began a successful career in magazine illustration and advertising. He became well-known mainly for his whimsical ink drawings of shoes done in a loose, blotted style.

Related Topics:
Pittsburgh - Pennsylvania - United States - Ruthenian ethnicity - Slovakia - Commercial art - Carnegie Mellon University - 1949 - New York City - Magazine - Advertising

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In the 1960s, he started to make paintings of famous American products like Campbell's soup cans and Coca-Cola. He switched to silkscreen prints, seeking not only to make art of mass produced items, but to mass produce the art itself. He has said that he wanted to be (like) a robot. He hired and supervised "art workers" engaged in making prints, shoes, films, books and other items at his studio, The Factory, located on Union Square in New York City. Warhol's body of work furthermore includes commissioned portraits and commercials.

Related Topics:
1960s - Campbell's soup - Coca-Cola - Union Square - New York City

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A lot of Warhol's works revolve around the concept of Americana and American culture. He has painted money, dollar signs, food, groceries, women's shoes, celebrities, newspaper clippings. To him, these subjects represented American cultural values. For instance Coca-Cola represents democratic equality because "a Coke is always a Coke, the Coke that the president drinks is the same as your Coke or mine". He used popular imagery and methods to visualize the American cultural identity, that it arguably didn't have before, because America is a relatively young country.

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This is best illustrated in his series "American Myths" in which Superman, Santaclaus, Howdy Doody, the Shadow (Warhol himself), Uncle Sam, Mammy, the Wicked Witch of the West, Dracula, Mickey Mouse and the Moviestar take the place that Greek gods or other ancient mythical figures do in European cultural history.

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This popular redefinition of American culture is a theme and result of Warhol's art. And because American culture has had great international influence, Warhol did as well.

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His most famous works are his portraits of Marilyn Monroe, and his paintings of the electric chair.

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