The Artistic Genius Andy Warhol - Research Paper Example

PROFILE OF ANDY WARHOL The Artistic Genius Andy Warhol In the 1950’s, the pop art started in London and quickly spread to almost all industrialized nations of the world. Andy Warhol was one of the well-known artists who embraced the pop culture in terms of art. The pop art increasingly became even more popular in the second half of the twentieth century. Andy’s love for the art played a huge role in influencing his career in commercial art. He is today remembered for being one of the world’s most prominent commercial artists of his time. As a small boy, Warhol was always obsessed with the looks. He would at times wear wigs to try and change his own looks with make ups on his face. This is a special attribute that would later help him in his career. Different people of the world distinguished Warhol’s work from the rest in the way he always tried to “make up” faces of the individuals he used in his art work.1 The sexuality helped shape his life. It is hard to understand who Andy Warhol personally was even though he was such an iconic figure in the American culture; there are so many things in his life that could not be easily substantiated. Who was he? Was he ever married? Why did he always want to be famous? He even wanted so much more than what life can basically give. He wanted to be famous, rich and beautiful.2 It is very hard for an individual to achieve all these things in life but Andy did everything he could to be what he always aspired to be and just like his personality, his art work is equally hard to interpret in terms of humor, irony or even beauty. It is like he portrayed his personality through the paintings. Some individuals even suggest that he used to ask his friends the things he should paint but after being fed with the information he would then ignore the suggestions and instead incorporate his own ideas. He always had his own ideas. This is quite a special attribute towards originality especially in the field of art and even music. Warhol was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on the sixth day of August 1928.1 He specialized in advert illustrations and is also remembered as the founder of pop art movement of 1960s. Some of his sensational newspaper narratives and screen-print images of Marilyn Monroe and soup cans are historical features in pop art. Warhol during this time of the century was that kind of a person that most popular magazines of the world would seek help from when they needed to illustrate features in the respective magazines. His experiences with the popular American magazines made him one of the most successful and the highest paid commercial illustrators of the time. Andy Warhol was not only involved in art but also ventured into other area such as filmmaking, writing, video installations and performance art. All through his life, Warhol had a wonderful career in arts and excelled in all other art related areas he had ventured into. He became one of the most celebrated commercial artists of the 19th century but would later die in 1987.2 The subject matter of Warhol’s pop art took the subject of different artistic work such as adverts, comic strips, motion pictures and everyday objects that were shown utilizing a variety of artistic technologies. Warhol’s art had a number of meanings. It focused mainly on representations of known subjects based on already existing imagery an attribute evident in some of his painting works like Elvis. Also, he would openly suggest that he did not feel as part of life but he would influence and reflected it by being at the center of it. Warhol’s earliest artwork was a huge reflection of many elements of the American Culture. In his first show, he show-cased Campbells Soup can’s paintings which were already familiar to many people. By painting the Campbells Soup can, he became the first person to make the painting and call it a fine art. His love for art really played a significant role in his artwork. Although, in the 1960’s the American nation started experiencing numerous changes that affected his artwork, he never quitted the artwork. Art was his life. In the same year, Warhol also worked on disaster and death subjects what was viewed as huge contrast from his previous works. There are some of several things Warhol achieved in his career that made the world view him as a true founder of art; his movies feature erotic as well as “advant garde” style. In the 1970’s Warhol wanted to step up his art game by featuring various celebrities in his artwork. He frequently visited some of the most glamorous and popular night clubs in America. This is the time when he started to feature celebrities. He wanted to achieve a child goal he had always aspired to achieve. As a kid Warhol always wanted to be a celebrity. Since he had not yet become one, he wanted to treat them in a special way. This is the time that he produced some of his most famous works where he featured celebrities like Jean Paul, Michael Jackson, Diane von Fursenberg as well as Yves Saint Laurent. This in a way helped him achieve his dreams. All he ever wanted in life is to become a celebrity, but also becoming friends with the people who were already famous would make him a celebrity.3 Following his world class artwork, Warhol grew to become one of the most influential cultural icons of the time. However, he was obsessed with obtaining fame and being celebrated. The two were not only shortcomings in his life but also great contributors to his life since they highly influenced the theme and ideologies of his art work. Different organizations of the world played a huge role in defining Warhols artwork. Compared to other pop artists, utilization of color was a principal aspect in his work. He carefully utilized values and masses of patterns distinctly differentiating his work from others. Most of the images painted by Warhol were streamlined and had a rounded look. This would make them the center of interest since they seemed to be more classic art works than the rest.4 In some of these images, Warhol would soften subjects so as to reduce his own fear of death and also help other persons cope up with their anxieties in the everyday life.5 Such images include the Ambulance Disaster of 1964 and other images in his Death and Disaster series that were produced to entertain the public as well as help Warhol confront his inner fears.6 Warhol published series of artists books. The first book that was massively produced was Andy Warhols Index (Book), published in 19677. He also co-founded inter/VIEW magazine two years later, which was simply a magazine that largely focused on films, fashions and the pop culture. This magazine was later renamed ‘The Interview’. This articulates the fact that he was not only interested in becoming a famous artist, but also focused his efforts on building the future.8 In 1974, Warhol initiated Time Capsules which were boxes made from cardboard filled with everyday life materials including photos, mail, art, collectibles, clothing amongst others which are currently archived as goldmine of his life and times.9 Warhol’s debut on the pop art concept made a variety of his paintings focus on commercial goods that were produced in mass quantities. This is what put him and his Pop Art culture in the National Spotlight for the first time in history. "Once you got pop, you never see a sign the same way again. And once you thought pop, you could never see America the same way again”.10 Following an attempt on his life in 1968, Warhol became obsessed with death more than ever. He created several famous arts of his time such as ‘The Skulls’ that was created to purposely express his feelings about the events of his life.11 The art depicted six skulls that were painted in six different colors. The shadow was similar to an infants profile that seemed to be symbolizing life and death. To an ideal human being, such art work is of great significance. Today, Warhol artworks are not only influential but also a subject to learn from. Through this art work, people learn how to become persistence as well as focus more towards growth and reputation.12 It is extremely imperative to note that Warhol inspires people to think creatively. The quality that is most attractive in Andy Warhols work is the display of his unique styles and personality. 13 He struggled to articulate the everyday life while incorporating styles of commercial arts in his drawings, films and paintings.14 Warhol is also remembered for the silk screening concept which pioneered a different art form by setting a certain trend in the art industry. This kind of art work is what further made Warhol a famous artist and added to his admass cultural themes. This method formed an assembly effect that would be used to distinguish his works from the others. Silk screening involved a photograph and transferring it in glue to silk. The photograph would then be rolled over ink across to be permeated so as to have only certain spots on it. This way, he was able to have the similar image every time. The blurry and faded pictures resembled the way the media dulls down a narrative each time it is told because imperative and tiny details get lost.15 In conclusion, it is evident that Andy Warhol was a one of the greatest artists of the all centuries and the fore founder of fine art. Warhol looked at the world in a very dissimilar manner. However, some scholars of the world today termed him as one of the most ridiculed American pop culture artists for they failed to consent or fully comprehend his life purpose. Some other individuals have wrong impressions about him following the self portraits showing him wearing makeup and wigs. Such people have been forced to hate his artwork because they think he was gay. Even though this aspect of his life played a significant role in his career, it does not mean that all of his art works were influenced his sexuality. For instance Mickey Mouse, General Custer as well as Marilyn Monroe were not influenced by his sexuality but creativity. Warhol was a Pop culture lover from the time he was a child. Warhol used the beauty of the different celebrities to grace movie and magazine covers. Warhol was not only a genius in pop culture but also a huge influence to fine art. Through his art work during his career he became a social visionary and commentator. Notes 1. Andy, Warhol. The philosophy of Andy Warhol: from A to B and back again. (Eugene, Oregon: Harvest Publishers, 1977). 2. Victor, Bockris. The life and death of Andy Warhol. (New York, NY: Bantam Books. 1989), 174-175. 3. Kynaston, McShine. Andy Warhol: A Retrospective. (New York, NY: Museum of modern art, 1989). 4. Stuart, Lenig. “Factory Made: Warhol and the Sixties. (Journal of Popular Culture, 38.2: 2014), 431-435 5. Steven, Shaviro. “The Life, After Death of Postmodern Emotions.” (Criticism, 46. 2004), 125-142 Bibliography Warhol, Andy. The philosophy of Andy Warhol: from A to B and back again. Eugene, Oregon: Harvest Publishers, 1977. Bockris, Victor. The life and death of Andy Warhol. New York, NY: Bantam Books. 1989. pp. 174-175. McShine, Kynaston. Andy Warhol: A Retrospective. New York, NY: Museum of modern art, 1989. Lenig, Stuart. “Factory Made: Warhol and the Sixties”. Journal of Popular Culture, 38.2 (2014): 431-435 Shaviro, Steven. “The Life, After Death of Postmodern Emotions.” Criticism, 46.1(2004): 125-142 Research Hygiene Sheet Warhol, Andy. The philosophy of Andy Warhol: from A to B and back again. Eugene, Oregon: Harvest Publishers, 1977. The book is about Andy Warhol, Andy Warhol’s beliefs and ideas. It was published in 1977. This book is trustworthy as it provides a lot of insight into a variety of things that Andy Warhol believed in, in the course of his Art in the Warhol Museum. A great number of texts in this book have partnered with valuable information regarding Andy Warhol’s life or what the work meant. The philosophy is amazing and acts as a reliable reference source in future for the sake of presentation purposes. The limits to this source is that it is only about the ideals that Andy Warhol believed in, A huge section of his works in form of images are not encompassed in this source. Bockris, Victor. The life and death of Andy Warhol. New York, NY: Bantam Books. 1989. pp. 174-175. This An Art Journal is a trustworthy article as it is necessary for a background on Andy Warhol’s works in context to the culture that was dominant. The authors describe the sixties and the fluctuating societal issues that seemed to have affected the works of Warhol as well as his lifestyle. This article will be useful to my project since it was a quick insight on the pop culture and proved to be very helpful when it came to seeing things that were published during the same time as Warhol’s artworks. The limitation to this source with regard to Andy Warhol is that the content is concerned with his involvement with pop culture. I am especially interested in page (45-50) because these are the chapters where his involvement in pop culture has been greatly covered by the author. Kynaston, McShine. Andy Warhol: A Retrospective. (New York, NY: Museum of modern art, 1989). In this article, Kyanston McShine explains the evolution of the works of Andy Warhol. He starts with his phase as a commercial artist. This source is trustworthy since it is indeed true that Andy Warhol commercialized his art works through consumer products like the Brillo pads and the soup cans by Campbell. This source is essential to my project and I can use it to show the counterpoint of Andy Warhol as a machine by arguing that if he possessed the ability to accept things and take delight in them, he could not therefore be a commercial machine since machines are not capable of human qualities. The limit to this source is that it is restricted to the commercial bit of Warhol’s art. Lenig, Stuart. “Factory Made: Warhol and the Sixties. Journal of Popular Culture, 38.2 (2014): 431-435. This journal article is vital for the works of Andy Warhol in the context to the culture that surrounded him. Lenig described this culture of the sixties and the societal issues that varied may have affected his lifestyle and his works. The era of transition of the sixties was as a result of the war, sexual revolution and the rise in the field of consumerism. The concepts that inspired Warhol and his art style was the images that dominated in the sixties. However, most of them were impacted on through the process of art creation. These ideas are described to us as the “Warholism” facets. This article beautifully describes the symbiotic relationship in which Warhol’s art were affected by the sixties. In addition, how his art affected the culture at that time. Shaviro, Steven. “The Life, After Death of Postmodern Emotions.” Criticism, 46.1(2004): 125-142 This is a journal article and it is trustworthy as Shaviro describes how Andy is considered as an aspect of postmodernism even before it came to exist. Post modernism came to prevail in the late 70s. It was the change in the attitudes of people either through art or the general society. The postmodern artifacts do not have the emotional appeal since their environments lack emotion. Artwork usually tends to be captivating thus adding up to the preferences of postmodernism. The uniqueness in Warhol’s art fitted in this category in a way that he presented the issue back to the spectator. The periods of post modernism were full of cynicism and self-reflexivity. This source conforms to the cultural phenomenon’s influence on Warhol and it also describes his career from a mere commercial illustrator to a world class artist. Read More