Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol :: Grevy's Zebra from his 1983 endangered species print series

For this week's episode, we focused on one of the most famous and influential Pop Artists of all time, Any Warhol.

Andy Warhol was born, Any Warhola but later dropped the 'a' because he loved mass production and tended to favor shortcuts, so I guess even his own name proved too much work. He said he dropped the name because his name was Czech and he thought Warhol was simpler. This change occurred right at the beginning of his career in 1949 as his first commissioned illustrations for Glamour Magazine was a collection of his shoe drawings and the art credits listed him as Andy Warhol. Andy loved mass media and used images found from newspapers and magazines as inspiration. He said he wanted to be a machine. He dubbed his studio "The Factory" and he used methods to streamline and automate the creative process. He traced images for efficiency, he used screen printing to make it easier to copy his works for the repetitive series he was known for. While most printmakers work very carefully and meticulously to align their prints and ensure there will be no mistakes, Warhol actually celebrated to the flaws inherent in the printing process as it referenced the cheap tabloid feel he longed to create in so many of his works. While his work was often criticized as shallow and celebrating consumerism, he carefully thought about every aspect of his subjects and his process to create a deep and meaningful reflection of a culture that was largely shallow and fixated with throw away cultural icons.