“Here she comes, you better watch your step / She's going to break your heart in two, it's true”. Femme fatale. Your song. Your portrait.

 

 

 

• Andy, take a little snooze. No more photos. No more songs. No more sketches now, babe.
• But, mom, “I'd like to be a gallery / Put you all inside my show”.

 

Andy Warhol. The top of the pop. Born in 1928 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Slovak parents. During his childhood: he lost his father, he was frequently bed-ridden because of an affliction of the nervous system, he realized and developed his skill sets. Photography and drawing. Blended with tons of wit and tons of ink.

 

1940s. USA uninviting. Bleak. Grim. Blue. Post Depression and WWII years. But Andy made it through. Because he saw, sensed, discovered. The hub of creativity, avant-garde and advertising. The city so nice, they named it twice. Caput mundi. New York, New York.

He becomes an illustrator for Vogue, New Yorker and the list goes on. Because, “Andy went to the heart of the matter – he knew...”.

 

1950s. The Beat generation is here to slam the door, beat the mind, fight lethargy, win the game. Andy's career is booming. First solo exhibition, first illustrated book, first group exhibition, first awards, more exhibitions, more awards, more travels, more fame all around the world.

 

1960s. “Andy Warhol looks a scream / Hang him on my wall”.

• (Painting uncovered.) What do you see?
• Yellow hair, red lips, blue eyeshadow, pink face. And a tiny mole.
• Kind of kitschy and banal?
• Kind of like pop and trending. I can't take my eyes off it! It's the colours, the look, the lips. Oh, yeah, definitely the lips.

 

Fame, money, success. Creative orgasm. You have to catch the beat.

“Andy walking, Andy tired

Andy take a little snooze”.

Andy painting, making sculptures

always looking for his muse.

Andy publishing, filmmaking

and avoiding taboos.

Andy musical production,

Andy's photographs diffuse.

Andy massive, Andy-culture,

Andy's famous yahoos.

Andy haunts all the shadows of the popular abuse.

Oh, look at these shoes!

 

1962. The foundation of his art studio. The Factory. Massive production of art prints, posters, shoes among other things by the Warhol superstars. Innovative, chaotic, legendary. Every day something new. Mass media, pop culture, “the American Dream, optimistic, generous and naïve”. Pop art is here to blur the boundaries between “high” and “low”, to embrace the commonplace, to praise the materialistic, shining, often pointless, always erotic glory. Το show off. And be just fine with it.

 

“When you think about it, department stores are kind of like museums.” So, let's make art! “I, Am, the Man”. The artist. The creator. And these are my divas. “Cause everybody knows / (She's a femme fatale)”. First there is Marilyn and then Liz and Jackie and Brigitte. The eye of the artist. The intense colors, the pure look, the perfect lips, the clear message. Flawless. Beauty will not grow old.

“He'll think about paint / And he'll think about glue”. Warhol's groundbreaking design ideas influenced countless artists and pervaded the world of fashion. Versace in his Pop Art Collection, 1991, made him synonymous with high fashion.

He died in 1987. But he never did.

 

JOY