How Andy Warhol Worked | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

[Music]. welcome to stuff you should know a. production of iHeart. [Music]. Radio hey and welcome to the podcast I'm. Josh Clark and there's Charles W Chuck. Bryant and Jerry's here and this is. stuff you should. know oh and look there's Andy Warhol. yeah and Edy cedrick and and Lou Reed. yeah and Jackie Curtis and Valerie. salonis the whole the whole gang's here. we we did one on that right in the scum.

Manifesto yes we did chapter 18 of our. book is on the scum Manifesto in Valerie. salana shooting Andy Warhol we did not. do it as a podcast yet no oh we probably. never will oh. okay but I think Chuck before we we uh. get into this we should dispense. something because I I think it's very. instructive about Andy Warhol he is one. probably the most famous quote from him. is that every in the future everyone. will be famous for 15 minutes.

and he didn't say that even in an. interview in 1980 he said he didn't say. it he used it in um I think a 198 or 68. exhibition um like the notes but it. wasn't his there is there is at least. four other people who can make a claim. to having said it first and that that. says a lot about Andy warhall that he he. was not shy or embarrassed or even. secretive about taking other people's. ideas even asking other people for ideas. to use in his own work and then it also.

shows that um that the idea that he said. that and that that's so associated with. him and his whole you know ethos MH it. also demonstrate that he himself was one. of his own works of art yeah his own. brand his own image his own everything. about him he was he was one of his own. works of art and those two things are. all captured in just that one little. quote Yeah that's a good way to put it. uh a little bit of about his childhood.

before we get to the the good stuff M uh. he was born actually Andrew. warhola uh he would drop the a years. later he was born and it's interesting. you think of warhall as a contemporary. artist which he is in some ways but he. was born in 1928 mhm uh it's not like. you know he was a bit older when he was. uh at Studio 54 in the 1970s older as in. like my age even Stranger Than That. Chuck he was born in Pittsburgh.

yeah well not stranger if you're from. Pittsburgh he's he's a Pittsburgh is. very proud of their warhall connection. uh especially to Carnegie melon. University where he went uh his parents. were European immigrants and his mother. was an artist he was the youngest of. three boys and his parents were very. encouraging of his art yeah uh they got. him a camera when he was a little kid uh. they sent him to art classes and. eventually would pay for him to go it. was uh Carnegie Institute of Technology. at the time but uh Carnegie Melon now. which is a great Art School SCH period.

right yeah it really is um I read that. the whole family um just kind of I don't. want to say coddled but he was a bit of. the center of attention he was the. center of the family being the baby of. three boys um and when he was a kid he. uh came down with um siden ham Korea or. Korea which is also known as St Vitas. dance which is a really mean name for a. neurological disorder yeah where you um. have involuntary movements mhm um and he.

was in bed for a number of months and he. again just happened to have a a mom who. was into art who took that time to teach. him to draw yeah and then he also spent. some of that time reading celebrity. magazine so those two things that he got. into in the um when he was sick in bed. really kind of came together to form the. foundation of his whole career yeah um. and like you said he was the youngest he. was also ill uh he had a skin. discoloration issue uh he didn't like. his nose he thought his nose was bulbous.

and misshapen MH uh he was bullied at. school he was always very um just always. felt bad it's sort of about the way he. looked and then later in life when he. would wear wigs and have plastic surgery. and wear makeup and stuff like that. people would say that sort of you know. was Andy from the time he was young um. his father would die when he was just 14. years old of jaundice liver uh it was. very hard on young Andrew uh he could. not go to the funeral I don't know if. that's from emot.

yeah yeah he was completely overwhelmed. yeah okay yeah so he was hiding under. his bed during the wake uh and. eventually would move to New York City. in. 1949 where he would drop that a and. become a very successful commercial. illustrator kind of pretty quickly yeah. he knew how to hustle too I read that he. would go to record stores and and look. at um album art and then pick out the. labels that had the coolest art and then. go to those labels and and try to get. work from them and it worked a lot and I. think it's one of of those things where.

once you make a name for yourself with a. couple companies it gets easier and. easier to get work so he made a pretty a. pretty good name for himself he made a. pretty good living as a commercial. artist for at least the first decade or. so of his career um and he had this this. style that I don't know was unique to. him but you know he basically adopted it. himself where he would draw something um. usually kind of out of proportion some. parts were more detailed than others it. very very early 60s drawing like Pink. Panther type illustration and then he.

would blot the ink before it was dry so. some parts would be thicker some lines. would be thicker than other parts that. were not even disconnected and almost. appeared dotted and then he would go. over and color them in outside of the. lines like almost blot them with with. paint um and he became really well known. for that and it was uh really good to. apply to women's shoes and that was one. of his favorite things to draw. Commercial Art for yeah he also started. and this would come uh come in very.

handy as we will see when he sort of had. his assembly line art thing going at the. factory MH uh he would he made stamps of. things he made rubber stamps and this is. how he would do print making so if he. had a client was like I love this but I. don't like the color he could go do it. again without starting all over just by. changing the color out on the stamp uh. or if he was doing like screen printing. or printmaking or something like that. he's very easy to change things up um he. then like you said he he won awards he.

made some pretty good money um he was. out as a gay man uh in the. 1950s I've seen both I've seen that he. was and that he wasn't oh really I've. always seen that he was but either way. it was the art world of the 1950s even. even in that scene it wasn't the most. normal thing to like be out and proud. right for sure no definitely um so one. of the things that made Andy Warhol Andy. Warhol is he never really saw saw um the.

high art that he created gallery art. versus Commercial Art as something more. elevated than the commercial artwork he. did it was just different or maybe he. could make more money for it there were. other people involved but he viewed the. gallery owners the curators and um. people who would eventually commission. him um or you know buy his work he would. let them help shape it like he wasn't. like one of those you know the picture. of the artists who like can't even take. the the first note about their work he.

would be like yeah exactly like you were. his client when you were buying art from. him and that's how he viewed it um and. that was that was definitely new and he. carried that throughout his career and. it had a lot of benefits for him and. then toward the end it really kind of. detracted from his his image as we'll. see yeah for sure um early on he and. this is in the 50s now you got to. remember he was selling uh some. self-published art books uh he had one. called studies for a Boy book. uh that was in a gallery called the.

bodley gallery and it was his first solo. exhibition uh they were sketches of. young men he was not shy about um. projecting sexuality in any of his works. and uh like we said this is 1950s even. in the art World some people accepted. that stuff other galleries were like no. we can't have like gay themed art in our. Gallery uh even in like a New York art. gallery so he was kind of pushing the. envelope early on with that stuff um he. worked with his mom his mom lived with. with him she moved to New York and lived.

with him for about 20 years yeah until. she left in I think. 1971 is where she she went home to die. right yeah essentially and um another. just like with his father he ignored. letters from his cousin telling him like. his mom was dying apparently she was. holding out for him to visit and he. never did and I don't think he went to. her funeral either um and he said later. that uh in a quote that he he couldn't. bear to think of it he he likened her to. a bird that had died recently and that. that he couldn't even bear to think of.

the bird dying that he just likeed to. think that it was out for a walk yeah so. that kind of thing just totally. overwhelmed he was very close to his I. mean think about it he lived with his. mother for 20 years yeah during like the. height of his his career in Fame and. supposedly also they were both deeply. religious Byzantine Catholics and he. would um carry a rosary around in his. pocket with him but there's a lot of. Legends and stories about Andy Warhol. there's also another story that he would. carry loose diamonds around his pocket. because he liked to just kind of you.

know um jiggle them around like they. were loose change so who knows it's not. entirely documented but there's there's. a whole thread of of um there's a whole. Camp that's like no he was super. religious he just kind of hid. it yeah he was a bit of a conundrum in a. lot of ways the more I read about him it. was interesting because he could be uh. quite kind and giving he could also be. very cruel even to friends of his as. we'll see uh he was a lot of things he. was a a a well-noted liar so even things.

that you read that Andy Warhol said. often times was not the truth and the. way I took it was he wasn't like oh he's. a a liar he's a bad guy cuz he lies or. it seemed like he just like messing with. people and he would just make stuff up. yeah some people it's funny because you. know from the outside you think of Andy. Warhol as almost like an art God but. inside the art world like there were a. lot of people who were just annoyed with. him or just thought he was lame or a. creep um I saw him compared to basically.

an energy vampire but then like you said. other people are like no he was very. kindly and very giving of himself and uh. of his money and help people get like a. start for in their art career that they. were looking for like he yeah like you. said he he was a contradiction in terms. in a lot of ways yeah big time um so he. obviously is most famous for being a pop. artist uh pop art started in London in. the early 50s and Warhol with was one of. the first US artists to kind of um get.

involved in this art movement that. emerged from Dada um and also just had a. lot of uh it was just sort of in the uh. the early um it was in the Zeitgeist of. the art scene at the time of this idea. of mass-produced objects being a theme. um there was also at the same time. though a very different world of people. like Jackson Pollock and Abstract. expressionism happening people who were. very serious about their art and who I. imagine did not appreciate this uh kid.

well he wasn't a kid by that point but. this guy named Andy Warhol this very. eccentric guy that's you know one of the. very first things he did were were those. celebrity screen prints those silk. screens right yeah one of the abstract. expressionist Kings William duning um. told Andy Warhol to his face that he was. a killer of beauty a killer of art he. said you even kill. laughter you duni he killed L after too. himself he was pretty drunk at the time. but I'm sure Andy warhall didn't like to.

hear that right so um the uh so he is. associated with pop art and um it it. definitely did dominate abstract. expressionism and it kind of said like. hey you don't have to just you don't. have to take art quite so seriously and. not only that are you guys paying. attention over here to how commercial. and consumerist America's becoming let's. start meditating on that a little bit. and um like you said one of the first. ones that really kind gained attention.

were um his um silk screens of. celebrities like Marilyn Monroe and uh I. think one of the first ones he did was. Marilyn's portrait on a gold background. and it was meant to basically kind of. look like a Renaissance icon of the. Madonna just the gold suggested it I. guess something like that and what he. was essentially saying he was equating. celebrity as replacing religion now so. it was kind of like comments like that. that was the the basis of early pop art.

uh should we take a. break yeah I don't think this has any. great Cliffhangers no it really doesn't. I was trying to find one all right so. we'll take a break now and we'll come. back with the sort of the beginning of. Andy warhol's pop Arch career right. after. [Music]. this. [Music].

all right so we mentioned before the. break uh in 1961 I think one of his. first pop artw Works was called black. and white uh it was black and white it. was called Coca-Cola 2 MH uh and if you. look it up it's it's a it's a drawing of. one of those great Coke bottles M uh and. this would become a thing for him like. Brands especially food and beverages. which is very interesting I think M uh. but he did those so screens right away. and then the very next year 1962 is when.

those Campbell Soup cans uh came out uh. a couple of the things he's most well. known for were those celebrity silk. screens and the Campbell Soup cans 32. portraits uh and I love that Livia used. those in quotes use portraits and quotes. uh because what he did was he would. project is what I did when I was a kid I. had a little overhead projector and I. would project an image of Opus the. penguin or Bill the cat on a wall uh and. I would trace it and I would act like I. could draw right when I couldn't I was.

just tracing something and that's what. he did with those Soup cans he traced. them from being projected on a wall yeah. so they were the first 32 portraits were. um handdrawn his first Campbell Soup one. um portraits were um and he actually. didn't have the idea himself he he paid. $50 to a designer named Muriel laau at a. party he paid by check for the idea she. said she had a good idea and that that. was it and he turned it into his whole.

career and then there's one other. development too while he was doing the. Campbell Soup cans that really kind of. um altered his career that instead of. projecting onto you know a canvas and. then handrawing something and then going. back and painting it um he figured out. that you could take uh you could project. an image onto a silk screen that had em. mulsion on it that would burn that image. onto that silk screen and all of a. sudden you had a stencil and you could. put whatever ever color you wanted. through it and make the same thing over.

and over and over again and so his next. series of Soup cans were just Campbell's. tomato soup but in all sorts of. different colors and that kicked off the. maryn the Elvis the the um uh Jackie uh. I think a hundred ways or something like. that um like that that changed his. career because not only did it it cause. a sensation like nobody had made art. like that before and it looked really. cool but also it allowed him to form the. assembly line that he eventually became.

famous for yeah I mean a lot of his art. later on was done by these people that. worked for him in the factory and it was. it was you know if you've ever been to. like a a t-shirt silk screen place and. there's people just like silk screen. t-shirts one after the other Andy Warhol. was doing that kind of thing and. becoming very famous for it uh it's very. interesting how it all happened um but. there was a gallery in 1962 uh the. ferris Gallery in Los Angeles where uh.

he had his first solo pop art exhibition. of these Soup cans uh the gallery. co-owner was named Irving Bloom and he. displayed them like they were shelves on. a or they were cans on a shelf like at a. supermarket very clever uh Dennis Hopper. very famously bought one of those first. ones but apparently uh Warhol didn't. even go a lot of people didn't go wasn't. super big at first a lot of too right. yeah a lot of uh writers were making fun. of it uh in the Press uh one quote was.

like uh frankly the cream of asparagus. does nothing for me but the terrifying. intensity of the chicken noodle gives me. a real Zen feeling uh so he was being. mocked um until you know he became Andy. Warhol I I'm sure he was mocked for a. lot of his career by some of those same. uh critics that had their nose turned up. at stuff like this for sure but it was. the beginning of this movement in the. United States and no one had ever seen. anything like it no because nobody had. done anything like it like like you said. commercialism had kind of slipped in.

here there but this was nothing but. commercialism and a comment on. commercialism and our relationship to. Brands and all that kind of stuff and. that was definitely new um and from that. the the pop art aesthetic like took off. you can basically plant that at the feet. of Andy Warhol in his first Campbell. Soup cam portraits and then very quickly. after that later on the um tomato soup. portraits with silk screening and um. today I think. uh I think what happened was uh did you.

say Blum Irving Blum I said Bloom but. Bloom he um he it may be Blum either way. he decided that um those those portraits. should not be sold off individually they. didn't really make sense on their own. they made sense as a group because it. was allegedly all 32 Flavors of Campbell. Soup um and that you know just having. Scotch broth by itself is kind of cool. but not really you need the whole thing. so he bought back including Dennis.

Hoppers he bought back all of those um. first 32 portraits and he paid Andy. Warhol. $1,000 about. $110,000 one today right yeah one. handdrawn um or hand painted soup can it. was called a small torn soup can Pepper. Pot in 2006 that one sold for 11.8. million so Irving Blum got these things. for a song because it hadn't taken off. yet but it it did very quickly after.

that well that that small torn Campbell. Soup can that wasn't even one of the big. paintings that was paper dresses we'. talked about paper dresses were a thing. at the time uh literally dresses made. out of these like paper pieces and he. was making these paper dresses with. images silk screened on them and. Campbell Soup even started doing that. later on but just one of the pictures. from one of the dresses sold for almost. 12 million bucks oh wow that's crazy.

that's pretty cool yeah I also saw too. um I don't understand art um unless. somebody explains it to me same here but. I saw that the especially the silk. screen Tomato Soup cans that are the. same soup can but in a bunch of. different colors mhm that what he's. doing is by taking this thing that you. take as a given that's so familiar it's. a Campbell Soup can I recognize it. everybody knows what that is and by. putting by playing with the colors and. making different color combinations he. was actually like basically melting the.

brand the whole idea of the brand the. whole identity of the brand was just. kind of being Stripped Away um from the. viewer's brain and turned into something. else it without the viewer even really. realizing it because the the colors were. so pretty that it you just kind of lost. track that you're looking at a soup can. even though you start out knowing that. you're looking at a soup can oh. interesting yeah I thought that was. pretty interesting too yeah uh as far as. pop art goes you know you mentioned a.

comment on. consumerism uh you know it sort of. depends on who you ask on what it means. that can be a comment on consumer. consumerism it could be uh just you know. everyday things are um like celebrating. something that's everyday and ordinary. uh Andy Warhol himself said pop art is. just about liking things and that he ate. Campbell Soup every day uh for lunch for. 20 years I don't know if that's true. that sounds like one of his little. stories that he might tell but for him. it was was very simple I don't think he. tried to get too um overly analytical.

about it he was just like it's pop art. and that's the whole point is he. shouldn't examine it too closely well. one of the other things though is that. he was very ambitious he liked money he. liked Fame he wanted to be known as the. greatest artist in the world and he was. like he was a consumer himself like he. liked stuff he likes spending money on. things like that story about him walking. around with loose diamonds in his pocket. so. it it's a it's weird he was he liked the.

very stuff that his paintings allegedly. criticized or made fun of or mocked or. analyzed he was into that same scene he. wasn't an outsider to it he was as much. a an American Consumer as anybody else. and that was um that was very odd for. that time you know that was the time. where like you didn't want to be a. sellout or anything like that Andy. Warhol was a sellout from the very. beginning he even put a fake ad in the. Village Voice saying like he would.

attach his name to the following things. if you would pay him for it um and it. was a joke but all at the same time it. wasn't a joke as we'll see he started. making what he called business art and. started making a lot of money from it um. and as a result of his taking that up. very quickly becoming like basically a. sellout as as soon as he could um the. the art critics basically say his period. of actual. good artwork just lasted from 1961 with.

the Coca-Cola bottles to the 1964. flowers Edition so three years. interesting even though his career kept. going on that that was his last notable. painting specifically there's the art. critic for the Washington Post named. Blake gnik who wrote a 900 Page. biography on Andy Warhol and his art and. he I don't think it was just his opinion. I think that's generally the art critic. world's opinion that he he was almost a. flash in the pan as far as actually.

producing good art is concerned well. yeah I mean what cuz what he was was a. he he kind of was the art uh he he. created a a brand and a Persona uh that. was bigger than the art itself so it was. yeah I mean you talk about separating. art from artists it's it was. indistinguishable in Andy warhol's case. it was all a part of who he was this. which was this he was the Campbell Soup. can you know yeah and I mean it we take. it for granted today living decades into.

the post-modern era and now decades into. the era of influencers and Instagram. like that's a normal thought to us right. totally this guy was doing this when. modernism still rained and postmodernism. was just starting to bleed out of it. where there weren't such things as. influencers like he he I don't want to. maybe he did he might have invented it. at the very least he gave other people a. lot of other people the idea to to try. the same same things yeah absolutely um.

we have to talk about his film making. because he would Branch out away from uh. you know screen printing things although. he he did that kind of uh throughout I. think CU he had his his Factory going uh. but in the mid 60s he started to make uh. visual art uh in ' 63 his first film. sleep I was about to say came out but it. kind of didn't really I'm sure it played. in some Avant guard theaters here and. there uh but his movies were they were. they weren't movies they didn't have. plots and characters and threea.

structure and stuff like that he would. set a camera up in front of the Empire. State Building and shoot it for eight. hours uh sleep was 5 hours and 21. minutes of his boyfriend uh John Giorno. sleeping um he his most successful movie. if you want to call it that was called. the Chelsea girls in ' 66 uh I love Olia. says it came in at a relatively Snappy 3. hours well what's funny is it came in at. 3 hours because it was a 6- hour movie. that he split in half and projected side.

by side next to each other so. technically it was 6 hours it was six. hours uh but this also didn't have a. plot um he was very explicit with his uh. real sex in movies uh without it being. well I'm sure a lot of people labeled it. pornography at the time but uh it was. Art um also drug use too oh sure he was. very open and explicit about all of this. at uh like I mentioned the factory he. had three uh places called the factory.

and they were his art studios they were. his meeting places his party spaces the. first one being at East 47th in 1964. yeah that was a silver Factory um a. artist named Billy name and name is not. his real last name he just adopted it. it's kind of like generic I love that. yeah um he covered it in aluminum foil. and silver paint which gave it the name. silver Factory but it was also a former. fat hat hat factory. a fat haory is another way to put it and.

the other reason Factory applies is. because um remember Andy Warhol was the. one who came up with assembly line art. yeah he would have an idea or maybe. somebody would give him an idea he would. execute it initially like maybe create. the first stencil make a couple versions. of it with different color combinations. and then after that he would basically. leave it to his assistants to start. producing his art that he would sign it. was his art but that was a brand new way. of considering art and so much so that.

he um he had a an assistant a guy who. basically became his right hand um his. name was Gerard manga or Manga as we'll. see um he uh would go to interviews with. Andy Warhol and Warhol would be like why. don't you ask my assistant Jerry here. some questions he did a lot of my. paintings and I think most people at the. time thought he was kidding and he. wasn't kidding at all like not just. Jerry but other people were physically. making the paintings that he was selling. for tens of thousands of. dollars yeah and to be clear I know.

people are typing up emails right now. this is not a new idea and this is not. something that doesn't happen all the. time in the art World there are uh in. fact we got an email from someone. recently who was called a ghost artist. Like a Ghost Writer they very famous. artists uh many many times have. assistants that actually pump out these. paintings in their style and sell them. wow it's always happened I had a friend. who 25 years ago did it for a guy here. in Atlanta and now she's her own artist.

and has her own Gallery which is great. oh great but that's how an assistant a. lot of times can get their foot in the. door is by uh working for a very famous. artist who has other people paint their. art it's just it happens all the time. all right then if he didn't invent it he. was the one who made no secret of it. whatsoever he exposed it and actually. used it to his benefit well and his had. definitely more of a assembly line feel. than the others uh it's not like uh.

other ghost artists like I'll paint the. trees and then you slide it to the next. person who paints the mountain uh it's. like a single artist sort of recreating. the pieces of art or or a team of six. assistants that are all working on their. individual thing it's not like a a. factory kind of thing that Andy Warhol. did so it was a little different so. initially his um assistants were a. basically um this is going to sound. unkind they were um. very heavy drug users if not addicted to.

drugs yeah um they were very frequently. Street kids uh a lot of them have been. kicked out of their houses because they. were transgender or they were gay um. they were they were societies cast off. and in weirdos and he collected them. like they were um precious memory. figurines and surrounded himself with. them yeah and that included well he. collected all kinds of people he collect. Ed them the factory was a scene man it. was like you could have uh some you know.

17-year-old Street kid who was a junkey. sitting next to uh a very famous you. know actor like a Dennis Hopper or a. real musician um and of course the. Velvet Underground was never that big in. the United States that's kind of what. they're famous for these days is is. America not ever really accepting them. they were huge in Europe but the Velvet. Underground was uh had a thing going to. New York and he wore H was their first. manager he financed that first great.

record and brought in Nico uh to sing on. it he he designed that great album cover. with a banana uh and he was that was. part of the scene The Velvet Underground. was hanging out there at the factory uh. Dennis Hoppers hanging out the factory. people are coming and going they're. doing heroin they're having sex out in. front of everyone shooting a lot of. speed too that was a big one lots of. speed it was it was wild it was super. wild like say people would just walk. around naked like it was nuts totally.

unhinged like there were very few rules. or regulations or anything like that I. think it was just one of those things. where if you got in and you could manage. to stay in you could do basically. whatever you wanted and I also get the. idea that people performed like it was. performative too um that it was also. very um uh competitive because one of. the things that he was known to do was. to just really latch on to somebody and. find them very interesting and then he.

would get bored with them and just kind. of leave them behind in the dust and I. think that was one of the reasons why he. was called I think it was Fran lewitz. who said that who called him a vampire. he would not just kind of take energy. from people he would also um take Talent. from people apparently he had a talent. for recognizing The Peculiar talents to. that each individual person has and then. using them for himself yeah so for. example I think one of his um his. assistants named um Bob kello Andy.

Warhol had a terrible memory but he. liked to record everything with his tape. recorder so he could remember not. everybody wanted him to use his tape. recorder and Bob cichello he found out. had a really great memory so Bob. cichello was his human tape recorder. when somebody wouldn't let him record. their conversation just stuff like that. just random stuff like that and he he. assembled his life the way he wanted it. using the people he surrounded himself. with and then just kind of interchanging. them like they were Tetris Parts when he.

he saw fit yeah there was an author and. a performer named Bridget Berlin who was. around in the uh 60s and 70s at the. factory hopped up on speed she would do. all kinds of work she sometimes would um. run the factory line sometimes she would. uh get a hold of his Diaries and edit. his Diaries sometimes she would co-write. his books uh Edie Cedric uh very. probably one of the biggest of his what. called The Superstars as far as you know. name recognition uh she was a very.

pretty young woman very troubled uh she. was from a very prominent family uh they. met in 1965 when she was 21 and he was. 36 uh she went on on to be in 10 of. those movies of his and they were. inseparable at a certain point they. would match outfits uh she was always on. his arm but when you talk to insiders. they would say that you know he treated. Edie very badly uh at times and at one. point he said do you think Edie will let. us film her when she commits suicide uh.

so it was that kind of thing that. happened um she very sadly died of a of. a drug overdose when she was 28 years. old so just seven years into their. relationship yeah I've also seen it. pointed out that um there was a habit of. people um around him dying young and. that's not the case with everybody like. Bridget Berlin was shown shooting up. speed in Chelsea girls and I think she. lived to 2020 um so people could make it. out of his orbit um. alive but other people like Edie Sedwick.

didn't and some people blame Andy Warhol. for um encouraging just that kind of. behavior people's self-destructive. Behavior either for his own amusement or. whatever he was getting out of it I. think that cult song Edy was about Ed. Sedwick if I'm not mistaken yeah she was. supposedly the first it girl where. whatever she did started a nationwide. Trend among people who are into fashion. or style or whatever like she couldn't. whatever she did it was just it she had. her own thing and everybody put her up. on this pedestal and she was a bright.

brilliant star yeah uh candy darling was. another one of his uh cohorts for a. while um and if you look up candy. darling like I didn't even know a ton. about Warhol a little bit here and there. but when I looked up candy darling I was. like oh I've seen this person in. pictures like my whole life I feel like. um Candy darling was a transgender woman. uh got hormone therapy at a time when. that wasn't something that people did or. was even very easy to get done and uh.

also Jackie Curtis was uh friends with. candy darling and they were kind of a. pair with Warhol and Jackie Curtis was a. playwright and a poet and a singer and. was back in the. 1960s playing with gender identity and. using different pronouns and uh using. terms like you know fluidity and things. like that uh this is at a time where. like no one was doing this kind of thing. and that's what Jack Curtis is doing yes. another very famous superstar I don't.

know if we said or not he would call. them Superstars the people who are. around him and starred in his movies and. stuff yeah okay good well done Chuck. another Superstar is a guy named Robert. Olivio who was um known as andine is. that how you'd say it I don't know if. it's anden or undine but andine sounds. more right I think so too um he met Andy. Warhol um at a really Chic party no I'm. sorry he met Andy Warhol at uh in orgy. in the early 60s and andine did not like.

Andy Warhol from the get-go because um. Andy Warhol was just standing there. watching Everybody not participating. basically and anden didn't like that at. all so he had his friend whose orgy it. was throw Andy Warhol out and they. crossed paths again later and and I. guess hugged it out and onine became one. of his his favorite people yeah I mean. there's a if you look up Andy Warhol. Superstars there's a very very long list. of people. uh we obviously can't go over all of. them uh but we should mention um Joe.

delandro he was the one of more one of. the more famous at least in that scene. uh was the one of the actors in many of. his films and uh just a sort of a gay. subculture sex symbol icon uh for you. know a couple of decades and I think. is still around he also mistaken he's. also the model for the Rolling Stone. Sticky Fingers cover oh was that dandro. yeah that okay cover of just basically a. man's crotch and jeans crotch pretty.

tight jeans too they're very tight uh do. you want to take a break and then come. back and talk about um who shot Andy. Warhol yeah it was Lily Taylor right. after. [Music]. this. [Music].

so nice reference Chuck to Aisha Andy. Warhol the movie um which I think. contains the Yola tango song Aisha Andy. Warhol right isn't that for that movie. probably I don't remember it's been a. while but that's a great song it's got. to be yeah go listen to that song it's. very good um so Valerie solanis is who. Lily Taylor was playing in that movie I. shot Andy Warhol um and she was again if. you have our book go read chapter 18 it.

goes way not the kids book no we it. wasn't in the kids book no um it goes. way into detail about Valerie solonus. and the shooting but in in um the. abbreviated version is she was a radical. feminist a playwright um a manher and I. say that quite confidently because she. was the founder and sole member of the. society for cutting up men scum author. of the scum Manifesto which is. definitely worth reading I think I've. mentioned before on the show um and she.

had a beef with Warhol she wrote a play. called um up your ass and she wanted. Warhol to produce it and not only would. he not produce it he lost the manuscript. that she gave him or the script that she. gave him and that really enraged her and. apparently the Andy Warhol Foundation um. and museum in Pittsburgh has that script. still they keep it under lock and key. but um she never got it back essentially. and then he also used some of her um.

recorded words without credit in in um. one of his movies so she did not like. Andy Warhol she was kind of fixated on. him and on June 3rd 1968 she shot him up. your ass is so funny oh and there's like. so many like sub subtitles to it too but. you can just call it up your ass I. haven't seen that in a long long time I. saw that movie back when it came out uh. and Lily Taylor was so good I just I'd. love her and she's amazing in that role. but yeah on June 3rd 1968 she went to uh.

the apartment of um another sort of art. scene lady named Margo uh fighting and. said uh was you know really pretty out. of it she suffered from schizophrenia so. she was not having a good day um she was. still trying to get this play made and. was uh almost begging her her this woman. Margot uh to do that and she said you. know that she couldn't do that and she. said oh yes you will because I'm going. to shoot Andy Warhol showed off her gun.

uh and left and apparently um fiden. tried to warn warhall wasn't able to get. to him uh this is when the factory was. now at Union Square and she shot him and. um did not immediately kill him we'll. hold on to that till the end but uh he. was really messed up he got a lot of uh. had a lot of damage to his internal. organs had many surgeries uh a lot of. scarring and had to wear a corset for. the rest of his life because of these. injuries a medical corset that held his.

guts in essentially yeah um I saw that. he when he was recuperating in the. hospital he said to somebody you know we. got to get some bigger things to hide. behind is that great very Andy were all. so he did survive um but he was. different after that and some people. argue that he was already headed in this. direction but basically he stopped. hanging out with um the people living on. the fringes of society entered Society.

like High Society um he took his. rightful place there as like a a beloved. art God among people who could pay. millions of dollars for paintings um got. a really nice house got a Rolls-Royce. and then the the next um Factory that he. set up was like a legit business and he. started making what he called business. art where if you were very wealthy you. could have him paint you in the style of. Marilyn or Elvis that kind of silk. screen thing and he would take your.

money and be totally fine with it and he. became again such a sellout there's. really no other way to put it that even. those portraits started to become bad. like he didn't even pay that much. attention to him even though that's what. he was doing and he got such a bad name. toward the end of his career that when. he was hanging out with bosot um bat's. career was kind of dragged down for a. little. because he was very to Andy Warhol.

that's how bad aut Andy Warhol got he. became a parody of himself to people in. the art World toward the end of his life. yeah it was a much different scene uh. than I mean he kind of in a way got. 1980s you know he sort of mirrored what. happened in the 1980s with consumerism. and just you know MTV came along he did. a couple of shows on MTV very cool shows. too one called Andy Warhols TV and one. called Andy Warhols 15 minutes yeah they. were they weren't bad actually um but it.

was a different thing for sure uh he. like you said he sold out from the. beginning but I think everyone in his. circle like thought he really sold out. in the 80s like and not in a good way. that he should be proud of you know I. think it just took the rest of the world. uh like that long to catch on that he he. had always been a sellout and was. totally fine with that and didn't care. maybe yeah that's so this is his.

reputation in the art World his star was. still quite bright everywhere else like. he would be on TV um he like you said he. had two different MTV shows in the mid. 80s like he was hanging out with some of. the great upand cominging artists like. bosot or Keith Herring um he was just he. was very well known he got work as much. as he needed um and his last major work. was pretty great it was a um an. interpretation of the Last Supper um. part of it is like a a sale sticker that.

says $699 it's one of the more prominent. things and then another prominent thing. there's Jesus's on there too and next to. it it says the big. sea what does that even stand for I. think Christ Christ I guess the big sea. it could be anything though if you think. about it it could be but this is the. last supper so he was again not really. revered in the art World until after his. death death and it became very clear. that like this guy was a an artistic. genius not just in his art but in his.

life too like like the time capsules is. a good example of that yeah he in 74 he. started the time capsules project uh he. filled up uh 569 cardboard boxes uh a. steamer trunk 20 filing cabinets and. they you know letters they um Bricker. rck from his life there's artwork. there's ticket stubs there's clothing uh. all the way back from the 1950s. uh for about uh close to 30 years worth. of stuff in these time capsules yeah I.

saw he would just sweep his desk clean. into a box like once every week or two. and like right TC on it for Time Capsule. well when you're that famous that's. becomes hugely valuable if I swept the. stuff off of my desk it's not worth. anything so so right so you've got the. uh the time capsules which is a really. deep Peak into his life um he also kept. Diaries and youi brought this to my. attention she she um was super into Andy. Warhol for a while and she found out.

that he had been audited Chuck every. year yeah um from by the IRS from 1972. until his death in um 1987 yeah thank. you Nixon yeah he attributed it to Nixon. Revenge from Nixon and that's actually. probably a pretty good hypothesis um. because he had created um political. artwork for George McGovern's 1972. campaign and it was like an ugly. portrait of Nixon then underneath it. said vote McGovern and it's entirely. possible Nixon ordered him to be audited.

and it just got kept up that's no it's. no coincidence you don't get audited. every year sure that's not how it works. so he would start noting everything. right oh I'm sure that he kept very good. records from that point on he did he. would dictate his diary by phone every. morning and um those became published. later on as Andy warhol's Diaries um so. there's a lot known about that guy and. yet he's still an enigma. yeah very much um when I said earlier. that he did not die at least right away.

uh from that gunshot uh he would die. from complications from that gunshot. many years later uh in February of 1987. he was 58 years old uh complications of. uh having his gallbladder removed and it. was you know they can draw a direct line. to that shooting and his eventual death. uh he left a treasure Trove like you. said of stuff he donated everything. basically. uh to what is now the Andy Warhol. foundation for the visual arts uh they.

it's worth a lot of money they've given. out close to 300 million bucks uh just. in Grants to more than a thousand art. organizations over the year yeah and uh. I think they are partnered with the. Carnegie Institute and the uh Dia Art. Foundation uh to build the Andy Warhol. Museum in Pittsburgh uh which is where I. last year saw Bonnie Prince Billy oh. yeah put play one of my many shows that. I've seen of his right he played at the. Indie War Hall Museum because that's.

what he does he plays at weird places. like that or not weird just different. places uh and it was great and it was. cool to walk around that museum a little. bit beforehand they have more than uh. they have a lot of his work uh they have. more than 4,000 videotapes and they got. those time capsules there yeah every. single one of them I think right I think. so um so in addition to predicting the. 15 minutes of fame for the future even. if he didn't originally come up with. with it he also had another idea that I. think kind of came to fruition later on.

um he had an idea for a chain of diners. that he called Andy mats and they were. for people who eat alone and you just. sit at a table they they serve you. frozen food and then you watch TV by. yourself and that everyone has their own. TV set W interesting basically just. predicted smartphones in society today. that's where we are now yeah for sure. thought that and then there's one other. thing if you are a fan of cringe you. don't like cringe do you uh like cringe. comedy yeah or yeah basically or cringe.

performance art uh I like stuff like the. office um but it it can border on like I. don't want to watch this for sure yeah I. I I I can't take it very easily and um. he if you watch his interviews they're. very cringy he would purposefully just. sit there and go er um whatever that. stuff actually and he wouldn't like he. didn't have anything to say or couldn't. think of what to say like he would just. be a terrible. interviewee um and then there's also uh.

a Mike Douglas no MV Griffin Show. segment with him and Edie Sedwick and he. just refuses to talk the whole time and. it's up to Edie Sedwick to try to keep. things going and she's like 21 years old. uh it's just really hard to watch I. think I made it maybe a minute into it. and I was like I can't watch this. anymore I can actually watch that stuff. um yeah I I'm going to check that out. okay you're going to love it I don't. know how much I love it but oh uh I I.

don't know sometimes when someone is. just I think that it's having no regard. for and I'm not saying it's like it's. cool to go in there and like wreck an. interview but like I also think like I. don't know if someone doesn't believe in. that system and they think it's all Bs. to make a statement like that is like. fine long as everyone's not doing it no. one wants to watch everybody do that. yeah for sure it's weird though because. he was in enth by celebrity from a very. young age but he wouldn't participate in. it when he was a celebrity himself even.

though he wanted to be a celebrity yeah. yeah a conundrum yeah for sure uh I. think that's it for Andy Warhol huh yeah. this this could have been uh two or. three ups but um I think it's a pretty. good overview I think so too um if you. want to know more about Andy Warhol. there like you said is a lot more to. learn and you can find stuff starting. out on the internet and then go to. Pittsburgh and see his stuff in person. and then save up $1 million and buy one. of his paintings yourself that's right.

and while you're saving that money up. it's time for listener. mail I'm going to call this shorten. shortish and. Swedish hey guys uh actually this is. more than Swedish this is great uh hey. guys I'm an old retired concert pianist. who remembers many ham and organs for my. youth I didn't play them professionally. but listen to this Josh you're going to. love this I was the pianist for the. Pittsburgh. Symphony and I was so interested though. in the history of the Hammond I had no.

idea had actually never even thought. about their origin although I played a. few in funeral homes over the years I. played big pipe organs with stops. including uh for the Pittsburgh Symphony. but I never mastered those slide bars on. the Hammond uh it's interesting you did. a whole podcast about Hammond organs but. I don't think we heard a single musical. note uh there was a wonderful young lady. RIS Scott who used uh to play at the. hurricane Lou in Pittsburgh she's still. living also in her early 80s like me. thanks for a wonderful learning.

experience and this my friends is from. uh a legend uh Patricia pratis Jennings. and I did a little worm H holding uh. with Patricia and it turns out Patricia. is a legend she played uh I believe she. was the uh first black woman to sign a. major contract the major Symphony in the. United States nice uh there's a great. great YouTube piece on her. uh I can't remember it's a a Pittsburgh. a local Pittsburgh thing but it's really.

good and she's interviewed and she's. just wonderful an amazing talent and it. just knocks me out that uh in her 80s. she's like getting something out of our. show that is pretty cool and that's a. lot of range too going from the symphony. to a funeral that's pretty cool yeah. totally but she played for the symphony. Pittsburgh Symphony for decades right. but she could also play a funeral too. I'm sure they're quite different the. whole vibe's got to be different you. know I would think so and also one more. thing I'll bet the hurricane Lounge was. the place to be it sounds like it.

doesn't it thanks a lot Patricia that is. really cool um thank you for writing in. and like Chuck said thank you for. getting something out of our episode and. if you want to be like Patricia you can. get in touch with us via email too send. it off to stuff podcast iheartradio.com. [Music]. stuff you should know is a production of. iHeart radio for more podcasts ihart. radio visit the iHeart Radio app Apple. podcast or wherever you listen to your. favorite.

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