Fine Art Friday: Andy Warhol

The first time I heard of Andy Warhol was in my 8th grade art class. I'd seen his iconic Campbells Soup Cans and 8 Elvises, the Marilyn Diptych and Green Coca Cola Bottles, but I didn't know who the artist was or anything about him. I was a little surprised, but not much, when I learned about the type of person he was. He was kinda crazy, and I like that.

My favorite things about Andy Warhol, in no particular order:

• His collections. He collected all kinds of things including airplane menus, stamps, cookie jars, newspapers, and most of all, wigs, of which he had more than forty. He never admitted to wearing those silver-blonde wigs. He even got them trimmed and would put on a new one each month to make people think they'd grown.
• His love of all things hollywood and consumerist/materialistic. He even said, "I love Los Angeles. I love Hollywood. They're so beautiful. Everything's plastic, but I love plastic. I want to be plastic." 
• His quotability. I've already quoted him twice in here, and I'm going to quote him more!
• He coined the phrase "15 minutes of fame" when he said, "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes." And it's true; it's not hard to do something that turns you into a sensation, even if that fades within the week.
• He designed album covers for the Rolling Stones, Diana Ross, Arethra Franklin, and others. 

I don't agree with or condone much of what he did, but I will say one thing: the man had style. My very favorite thing about Andy Warhol is that he wasn't afraid to be himself.

He was openly gay before that was accepted, he said outrageous things (like that real life was actually television), he got famous with his prints of soup cans and Hollywood stars! He called his studio "The Factory", said the telephone was his best friend, and he made tons of experimental films about crazy things that I'm not going to try to list here. He tried to be as emotionless and "plastic" as possible, but secretly paid for his nephew's education to become a Catholic priest and regularly volunteered at homeless shelters. I respect anyone who's brave enough to be their own person, and Andy Warhol was definitely his own person. 

-Cailey