From the covers to what is between them, this is not only a book but a portion of the famed artist’s own life. Like many average Americans, I have always been drawn to classic artistic movements such as impressionism and surrealism, and have not given pop culture and contemporary art much attention. Now this book may not persuade me to be a champion of these artistic movements, but the book was influential enough to make me Visit the MoMA. Warhol is one of the most influential and recognizable figures in recent history. What caused a son of Eastern-European immigrants to take a risk by moving to New York City? Better yet, what lead him down the path to his stardom? No matter if you are a fan or not, Warhol‘s autobiography is an intriguing read and gives an invaluable look into the life of an artist Warhol uses a combination of methods to give readers a sense of who he was.
He accomplished this through inner dialogue, conversations with others, and, perhaps most utilized, his behavior with others, It is quite interesting that he seems to be a loner, or at least cherishes solidarity, yet we learn so much through his interactions with others. What Warhol accomplishes so beautifully, in my opinion, is portraying the inner dialogue of artists, It is surprising how much thought he and his workers put into items even though some works appear so simple. For example, Warhol says that he always wants there to be a slight misunderstanding between him and his workers. This way something that he never even envisioned is created. One of my favorite parts of the book was Warhol’s “so what” philosophy. He said that some people are marred by the same problem for years, and that is when he learned to just say “so what” and move out I believe this is a great philosophy and is an important lesson for people today to learn.
A lot of people protest over things not being fair or that others make it in life while they do not So what? Life is not fair and complaining is not going to make it any more fairy. Also, Warhol has other truly useful information, such as his example of visiting a ball in Europe. You might dream of this ball for weeks, but after it has happened—you realized you remember the car ride the most. That is, the most mundane things will surprise you in the end. At the MoMa, I did have the opportunity to see both Warhol’s Campbell Soup and Marilyn Monroe’s pieces. Now, these are not my most favorite works of art I have ever seen, but they surely are amazing to see firsthand, For many, both of these works are the face of art and modern high society.
From what we have been taught in Class to what I have read about Andy Warhol, I now see the importance of knowing about artwork, such as their backstory or iconography. This adds so much to the experience that I never before knew existed. Warhol‘s story is quite peculiar he leads you down one road, but then he just abruptly starts a new topic. What makes the story interesting, however, is this sort of randomness, it makes the book sound more conversational and from the way Warhol talks of his relationship with other people, it really seems like readers of this book know him better than the people he surrounds himself with. Overall, the book is not a read and pan of the charm is you think you start to understand Warhol and then he says something just a little strange that throws you for a loop again.
