Steve Schapiro: Andy Warhol and Friends

 

In 1965, Steve Schapiro started documenting Andy Warhol for Life magazine: Warhol was cementing a reputation as an important Pop artist who drew his inspiration from popular culture and commercial objects. With his sunglasses, blond wig, and bland public utterances, Warhol was enigmatic, charismatic, intensely ambitious, and aware that to become a star, you needed the presence of people to document your ascent. Schapiro, also ambitious and hardworking, who in his own words "kept quiet and smiled a lot," was an ideal witness to Warhol's relentless rise from cult New York artist to 20th-century icon. Ironically, Life never published the story, so many of these images are seen here for the first time, scanned from negatives found deep in Schapiro's archive.

Between 1965 and 1966, Warhol was at his creative peak. In this period, Warhol turned his life into art and conceived the "Andy Warhol persona"-arguably his greatest masterpiece. Schapiro busily photographed Warhol and his entourage of superstars, including the legendary Edie Sedgwick and Nico, hanging out art openings,. making his underground movie Camp, working on his silkscreens at the Factory, and roaming the streets of New York. Schapiro was also present at the opening of Warhol's first museum retrospective at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia, attended by a hyped-up crowd of thousands -the night where art's coolest new king was crowned and Andymania was born. The final stop on the Warhol express train is Los Angeles, where Andy exhibited his ironic Silver Clouds at the Ferus Gallery, stayed up with his gang atthe picturesque the Castle, and set up and filmed a performance by the cult band the Velvet Underground at the Trip.

Featuring more than 120 photographs, Schapiro's images are juxtaposed with tipped-in plates of original Warhol artworks exhibited during the period. The art works include Before and After, 4, 1962, Colored Campbell's Soup Can, 1965, S&H Green Stamps, 1965, One Dollar Bills (Fronts), 1962, 100 Cans, 1962, Flowers, 1965, Shot Red Marilyn, 1964, Elvis I and II [Elvis Diptych] [Ferus Type], 1963-64, Green Disaster # 2 (Green Disaster Ten Times), 1963, White Disaster (White Car Crash 19 Times), 1963, and many others. Also featuring an interview with Steve Schapiro, who passed away in early 2022, and an essay and extended captions by official Warhol biographer Blake Gopnik. Andy Warhol and Friends 1965-1966 is a definitive portrait of a groundbreaking artist at a transformative period in postwar American culture.