The second part of the Picasso to Warhol Film Festival closing party saw the former director of AGWA Alan Dodge AM, provide insights into Andy Warhol, his art and life. Alan was living in New York City in the 1970s and was fortunate to meet the trend setting Warhol.
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Aside from giving us a better understanding of Warhol’s work, Alan’s talk also left me pondering five things about people who succeed in their profession.
Putting in the work
Alan was at pains to explain that Warhol was a very, very hard worker, a perfectionist, how often that seems to be the case amongst those who reach high levels.
Treading his own path
According to Alan, Warhol was a brilliant draftsman, and after studying graphic design he hit the streets of Manhattan with his portfolio in a paper bag. Like others in the Picasso to Warhol exhibition he soon developed his own style moving away from the norm. This niche approach saw him take the skills he’d acquired in graphic art (e.g. screen printing) and apply them into fine art. A blending of the commercial world and art world.
Indeed the movie that was shown after the talk, Ten Lizes, showed how Warhol broke the mould of traditional portraiture. To do so he used a photo of Elizabeth Taylor and printed it repeatedly on canvas 5.6 metres long and 2 metres high. The movie also included early vision of the Velvet Underground.
Business savvy
Beyond this Warhol was also a good art businessman who knew the importance of money. As an example he soon focused on producing portraits for people who could afford them.
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A positive attitude
Alan also explained that Warhol had a good attitude which meant people wanted to work with him.
‘If he was asked to change something he said ‘that would be fun’’, explained Alan
Passion
For me though the most intriguing fact was that the larger than life Andy had been a sick child. Rheumatic fever had seen him spend a lot of time in bed where he used to cut out images of stars. Many years later he would own a studio that all the stars of the day wanted to hang out in.
Once again this has me pondering how often life moves full circle. I’m always amazed when the people I’m lucky enough to interview give me a peek into their childhood, where sometimes faint but often powerful connections with the future can be seen.
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Interesting then that as a school girl you’d have to strap me down to get me to sit through an talk about an old artist, and yet now I’m mesmerised hearing about the people behind these works.
I hope you make it to the last days of the exhibition. If you do when you see the Soup Cans you might like to ponder that according to Alan they were originally meant to be sold individually, and a few were. However the owner soon bought them back realising they’d be of more value as a collection.
Picasso to Warhol exhibition see www.artgallery.wa.gov.au
