By Kristina Green
A MAN OF DIFFERENT COLORS
“I really believe in empty spaces, although, as an artist, I make a lot of junk. Empty space is never-wasted space. Wasted space is any space that has art in it. An artist is somebody who produces things that people don’t need to have but that he, for some reason, thinks it would be a good idea to give them�
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Early Years n August 6, 1928, a boy was born with a big future ahead of him and that boy was Andy Warhol. Andy Warhol was the fourth child of an immigrant family Andrew and Julia Warhol, who decided to raise their children in the town Pennsylvania on 3252 Dawson St. Most of Andy’s childhood, was spent drawing and collecting photos of Hollywood stars, since he was home often with Sydenham’s chorea, a nervous system disease. He spent a great deal at home with his mother, so naturally he bonded with his mother in a deep way and the art was an outlet in dealing with his childhood. After graduating from Siri High School in 1945, he decided he would attend Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh and study. After graduating in 1949, he decide to move away from home and move to New York to start his career as an illustrator for magazines and advertising companies.
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The Beginning of a Career After moving to New York his career in advertising took a turn and his career as an artist began to emerge. Andy landed a job making drawings for a shoe com28 / Times Magazine
Portrait of Mao Zedong
pany and RCA records designing album covers. During this time he started to use his skills making techniques for his advertisements, which turned into the best art exhibitions at the Hugo Gallery and Bodley Gallery in New York City. As the 1960’s flourished, Andy started to get noticed in Hollywood, California. Andy always had a fascination with Hollywood stars and now his childhood dream would come true by making paintings of different stars and taking and changing into, which is now known as classic pop art. During the 60’s, Andy’s fame of popular art work took hold and now he begins his career in the elite of famous people. Andy changed his course and started exploring his talents by making films in his New York studio called The Factory. Towards the end of 1960s Andy’s life would change dramatically when a racial feminist
Valerie Solanas tried to murder him over a silly manuscript of a play scripted that was never return. Andy was shot in the chest, and barely survived the attack. He recovered from the shooting but suffer complications for the rest of his life. The shooting changed his whole outlook on life and his art career. The Later Years After the height of his career in the 1960’s the next twenty years of Andy’s life was quiet but he still continued his artwork and his love of Hollywood stars. In 1973 Andy Warhol created one of the well- known famous painting, a portrait of the Chinese communist leader, Mao Zedong. Andy would hang out at several nightclub’s like Studio 54 to mingle with the famous crowd and meet different famous people around the world. Andy started to invest his
Andy’s Quotes
money and talents to younger artists like Jean Michael Basquiat and several other artists. By this time he was also known for his many quotes. One of his most famous saying is, “I really believe in empty spaces, although, as an artist, I make a lot of junk. Empty space is never-wasted space. Wasted space is any space that has art in it. An artist is somebody who produces things that people don’t need to have but that he, for some reason, thinks it would be a good idea to give them” (Famous). Sadly, Andy passed away on February 22, 1987, due to complications from gallbladder surgery. The art world will never be the same again.
Andy Warhol and Michael Basquiat
all the artwork, film making, and books, that he created and the list goes on with his wonderful talents.
Legend For a child who spent his days in bed sick, his life turned out as one of the most exciting life of any famous person there was. After his death, people really began to appreciate and understand his purpose of his artwork. Andy is now recognized for being the Pop Art king of the 60s. In Andy’s honor, there have been several organizations that pay tribute to Andy Warhol works of art, like the Andy Warhol Foundation. In the end he was really a talented artist with Coke Cola Pop Art Portrait of Andy’
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