Jump to content

Warhol superstars

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Warhol superstars were a clique of New York City personalities promoted by the pop artist Andy Warhol during the 1960s and 1970s.[1] These personalities hung out at Warhol's studio, the Factory, appeared in his films, and accompanied him to his New York haunts. The Factory crowd, known for its casual sex, casual nudity, and flaunting queerness when it was still taboo, would come to symbolize the sexual revolution of the time.[2]

History

[edit]
Andy Warhol with Brigid Berlin, Mary Woronov, International Velvet, Nico, and Ingrid Superstar. Photo by Robert R. McElroy for Newsweek, February 13, 1967.

The first recognized superstar was Baby Jane Holzer, whom Warhol featured in many of his early film experiments. The superstars would help Warhol generate publicity while Warhol offered fame and attention in return. Warhol's philosophies of art and celebrity met in a way that imitated the Hollywood studio system at its height in the 1930s and 1940s.[3]

Warhol's studio, The Factory, played host to most of his superstars and as his experiments in film continued, he became more interested in the bohemian eccentrics attracted to the studio.[4] Some of the most important superstars to emerge from the period of the first Factory—known as the 'Silver Factory' because the walls were covered with silver foil—include Gerard Malanga, Taylor Mead, Billy Name,Ondine, Brigid Berlin, Mary Woronov, and Eric Emerson.

Among the best-known of Warhol's superstars was Edie Sedgwick.[5] She and Warhol became very close in 1965, but their relationship ended abruptly early in the next year. Warhol would continue to associate himself with people, including Ingrid Superstar, Nico and International Velvet.

The 1966 film Chelsea Girls, about life amongst the superstars at Hotel Chelsea, was notable for finding success beyond New York City underground arthouse scene.[6]

Warhol and his entourage often occupied the back room of Max's Kansas City.[7] He traded art for credit with the owner Mickey Ruskin, and he allowed members of his coterie to use his charge account.[8][9]

In 1968, radical feminist Valerie Solanas, who was a bit player in the Warhol films I, a Man (1967) and Bike Boy (1967), attempted to assassinate him at the Factory.[10]

In film collaborations with director Paul Morrissey, Warhol brought in new superstars including Viva, Ultra Violet, Joe Dallesandro, Andrea Feldman, Jane Forth, Donna Jordan, and Sylvia Miles. During this period, Warhol developed an increasing fascination with trans women and drag queens, and promoted Candy Darling, Holly Woodlawn and Jackie Curtis to superstar status. The later Warhol/Morrissey collaborations Flesh (1968), Trash (1970), Women in Revolt (1971), Heat (1972) are more frequently screened.

Several superstars are mentioned in Lou Reed's 1972 song "Walk on the Wild Side".[11]

The age of the Warhol superstar faded as Warhol returned to painting, but a few appear in the last Warhol-produced film, Bad (1977), directed by his lover Jed Johnson.[12]

List of Warhol superstars

[edit]
Viva and International Velvet by Billy Name at the Factory, 1968.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Watson, Steven (2003), "Factory Made: Warhol and the Sixties" Pantheon Books, pp. 10–12
  2. ^ Gefter, Philip (16 October 2020). "Richard Avedon's Wall-Size Ambitions". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  3. ^ Watson, Steven (2003), "Factory Made: Warhol and the Sixties" Pantheon Books, p. 177
  4. ^ Watson, Steven (2003), "Factory Made: Warhol and the Sixties" Pantheon Books
  5. ^ Watson, Steven (2003), "Factory Made: Warhol and the Sixties" Pantheon Books, pp. 210–217
  6. ^ Sheffy, Pearl (28 May 1967). "Andy Warhol At Cannes". The San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle. p. 6. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  7. ^ O'Neill, Claire (20 September 2010). "Pictures Of Punk Rock And Pop Art: Remembering Max's Kansas City". NPR. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  8. ^ Kurtz, Bruce (10 April 1981). "Last Call at Max's". Artforum. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  9. ^ Nevins, Jake (10 May 2023). "Jay Johnson Remembers the Quiet Luxury and Kindness of His Brother Jed". Interview Magazine. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  10. ^ Shepard, Richard F. (4 June 1968). "Warhol Gravely Wounded In Studio; Actress Is Held; Woman Says She Shot Artist, Who Is Given a 50-50 Chance to Live". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  11. ^ Hann, Michael (7 December 2015). "Lou Reed's Walk on the Wild Side: what became of Candy, Little Joe and co?". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  12. ^ Horna, Jed (27 September 1976). "Andy Warhol Thinks Everybody and Everything Is 'Great' Except His Latest Movie—it's 'Bad'". People Magazine. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  13. ^ Staff (2021). "Andy Warhol Superstars". WarholStars.org. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  14. ^ Genzlinger, Neil (18 June 2021). "Allen Midgette, an Ersatz Andy Warhol, Dies at 82 - In a prank, or perhaps a piece of performance art, Mr. Midgette pretended to be the famed artist on a lecture tour in 1967". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  15. ^ Hass, Nancy (18 June 2021). "Brigid Berlin, Andy Warhol's Most Enduring Friend - Berlin, who died last year, was a great artist in her own right, and her New York apartment, which is being sold, is a window into a bygone era in the city's history". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  16. ^ a b c Rouvalis, Cristina (2 March 2020). "A Feminine Force - Carnegie magazine". Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  17. ^ Wilson, William (11 May 1970). "Warhol on L.A.: 'Everyone's Crazy'". The Los Angeles Times. pp. lV. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  18. ^ "Luna Set For Movie". Nevada State Journal. 23 March 1968. pp. 6 - Entertainment.
  19. ^ Harvey, Peter (3 August 1971). "Focus was on miss Miller". The Guardian. p. 5. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  20. ^ "Ingrid Superstar". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 18 August 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  21. ^ MacDonald, Sarah (27 October 2015). "Who were Andy Warhol's Superstars? A guide to underground cinema's mysterious muses". Fashion. p. 1. Archived from the original on 20 April 2024. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
  22. ^ "Paul America". warholstars.org. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
  23. ^ De Oliveira, A.; Parra G., C. (August 2015). POP (Peña, Obregón, Perna) (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain: Galería Odalys & Fundación D.O.P. p. 19.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Warhol_superstars&oldid=1287893872"