artist profile
Andy Warhol
education
School of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University), Pittsburgh, USA, 1945–1949
about the artist
1928–1987
Born: Pittsburgh, USA
Died: New York, USA
More important than his title as the “Pope of Pop” is how Andy Warhol concocted an art exemplifying the market culture and commodity obsession of the economic juggernaut that is postwar America. Over the years, as capitalism has grown its imperialistic reach, Warhol’s art now speaks potently to a global audience whose universal experience of an existence submerged in commodification and commercialization finds resonance in his undeniably relevant compositions. Warhol employed assistants, made silkscreens, depicted brands, all in the name of productivity, popularity, and ultimately, profitability. Out of his infamous “Factory” (1962–68), Warhol built a creative enterprise that encompassed and straddled modes of expression ranging from painting to photography, film to music, drawing to sculpture. His arsenal of imagery has been indelibly printed on the pages of contemporary art history and continues to influence all forms of artistic and cultural production in his posterity. The Warholian legacy represented and marked a fundamental shift in the meanings and mechanisms that make up the art market today, as his works, fittingly, carry on fetching some of the biggest prices at auction or in private sale. In dedication to the artist, two museums of have been erected: The Andy Warhol Museum, among the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, USA, and the Andy Warhol Museum of Modern Art in Medzilaborce, Slovakia. The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts was established in New York in 1987, its mission to promote advancement in the visual arts through awarding grants, fellowships, and funding projects, as well as organizing programs and exhibitions.
Website: http://www.warhol.org/