50 Years Ago Today: Andy Warh(og)

On June 3, 1968, a pop art legend was shot in the chest and barely escaped death.  Although known for his million dollar screenprints of Campbell soup cans and celebrities like Marilyn Monroe and Mick Jagger, Andy Warhol’s most significant contribution to the world was not his artistic ability, but his ability to capitalize off his art. Warhol himself was not ashamed to admit this and even proudly called his studio “The Factory.” Warhol frequently collaborated with others such as Jean-Michel Basquiat and built off their pieces by including his fresh, vividly colored style into their works.  His art was never meant to be technically elaborate and skillful, rather, it was a reflection on society. He once said that anything could be art, if the intention was that it was art and if it was presented as art. His depiction of ordinary daily objects from bananas to the familiar faces on your local cinema screen were meant as an experience, a change in the way we look at art: not as a finished product but as a revolutionary idea.  Although a visionary, Warhol represented everything that was wrong with the art scene. He was your stereotypical art snob. He refused to associate himself with those who he felt were undeserving which in return led to his near-death experience in an attempted assassination. But he also embodied its glamour. He had highly publicized meetings with celebrities such as Diana Ross and John Lennon and went to exclusive parties and events.  To me, his “Green Car Crash” wasn’t worth the 71.7 million dollars someone paid for it at an auction in 2007, but after all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and Warhol’s pieces, for some reason, are like real estate--the price will never go down. So if you do have 10 or 15 million dollars to spare and if you are willing to hang up a piece in your living room that you know probably has another exact replica hanging in someone else’s living room too, consider investing in a can of Campbell soup. You can never go wrong with tomato but if you’re in the mood, golden mushroom is a good choice as well.  So maybe he deserved to be shot by Valerie Solanas in 1968, maybe he didn’t. But all we know today is that he changed the scope of the art world and encouraged new forms of expression.