Andy Warhol: The ArtBreaker

“The idea is not to live forever - it is to create something that will”

- Andy Warhol.

When he was alive, it seemed like Andy Warhol was everywhere, and his absence has done nothing to diminish his popularity. His art, or at least some parts of it, is familiar to us; so familiar in fact, that it is difficult not to immediately think of Warhol when we see things like canned eatables or an automobile accident.

Along with the almost overpowering presence of his work, Andy has always been a kind of striking enigma. With the artificial grey hair, intense dark glasses, and classic leather clothing constantly complementing his aura, he has always carried himself like a piece of art. His presence is as striking as one of his canvases and just as devoid of a narrative sense. Warhol offered his image - his mask - to the public eye but deprived them of anything more. He loved to maintain an element of personal and professional mystery, admitting that he never discussed his background and would invent a new persona every time questioned.

Warhol’s artworks introduced a fascinating new form of artistic expression. The freedom of brilliant vibrancy rushed in all of his works, reminding people about the literal living of art. The world was fascinated with Andy Warhol – his look, his aesthetic, and the attitude of his Pop Art movement. Warhol created celebrities out of celebrities and added an extra level of validity to their careers that solidified their likenesses in history. The steady-state of his work is scintillant, a drizzle of artistic fascinations: money and celebrities, but also democratic consumerism, tabloid disaster crashes, business as an art (and vice versa), and reality in a spectacle.

Trends in art come and go like the weather, but the several that Andy initiated six decades ago constitute a climate unaffected by time. “Love him or hate him, he is inescapable”.