Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol was considered a legend during his lifetime, as he brought thought to the everyday gossip and concepts of life. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1928 and studied at Carnegie Institute of Technology. After receiving his bachelor in fine arts he moved to New York City to become a "commercial artist". In New York City he did work for the magazines Harper's Bazaar and Vogue. As he entered into the New York culture scene he began painting celebrity portraits. His work was influenced by the many famous artists during the Renaissance and Baroque periods, but also by the city life. His paintings and other pieces of art brought controversy to the glitzy world of Hollywood and the celebrities and value within it. Warhol combined business and art and had the ability to overpower the trends of the 1960's. With this unique style and confidence, he entered the world of consumer advertising with such pieces as the Campbell Soup painting and more. The decade of the 1960's is known even today as a decade of social and political change. He produced pieces such as his Gun painting and the Electric Chair painting to mirror his beliefs and/or disgust of controversial political concepts and happenings; however, this decade also
The Dollar Bill painting uses paint, pastels, charcoal, and more to put across the idea of money. There are two levels of three dollar signs, all elaborately painted but also semi-tacky. The symbols of money are great in size considered to the size of the entire painting and color is used abundantly. Not just the dollar signs represent value to Warhol, but also the fact that it is a painting. An artist's prestige and a piece's reputation, Warhol considered, was based solely on the dollar value it was given. Warhol linked art to consumerism with this painting as he blatantly portrays that, to the American people, art is judged by its financial value, not by the personal taste of the individual. I really like the unique style of Andy Warhol and the fact that he produced pieces that were controversial to the ideas of his time. His use of colors and different materials is very inspirational to me and I now hope to make some pieces that include such a wide variety of materials, textures, ideas, and more. His pieces are so interesting to me because, even today, the world of Hollywood is produced by the photographers and the journalists. I love that he can express the different happenings, as in the Mick Jagger painting, without really making a full judgement of thier value. Many of his celebrity paintings, including Marilyn Monroe, Mick Jagger, John F. Kennedy and his wife, and other political or social figures, add color and shapes but do not condone or glorify a person to an extreme. His work with other images, such as the Gun and the Electric Chair paintings, do express his judgments on violence and tragedy. He used his art to make people think about the many happenings of that time period that they might not have otherwise given thought to. Warhol was a contemporary artist, u
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Approximate Word count = 1208
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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