Spitball Army

I also recently watched the marathon four-hour DVD, Andy Warhol: A Documentary Film.  Even at four hours, some topics seemed only lightly discussed, like the details of Edie Sedgwick’s demise, or what really went on at the Factory.  But, this being a PBS production, it was probably appropriate that the salacious bits were only hinted at, leaving more time to cover the significance of Warhol’s art.

Though in retrospect it makes perfect sense, given the frequent commercial references in his work, I had no idea that Andy Warhol was a highly successful graphic and commercial artist prior to making it big on the “art” scene.  The sequences in the film that explain how he broke into the advertising world in New York, and the innovations he created, are some of the most interesting in the film.

The Andy Warhol Museum is mentioned briefly at the close of the film, so I hunted for its website online.  Turns out that it is in Pittsburgh, so I will most definitely have to combine a visit there with my trip to Falling Water later this year.  One of the interactive elements of the Museum’s website is an area where you can learn, step by step, how Warhol designed his trademark silkscreen portraits.  You are then given the opportunity to make one yourself, using some pre-selected photographs as your raw material.  I created the virtual silkscreen below, using an element from a photograph of New York firefighters at work (possibly 9/11-related):

The silkscreening-specific webpage of the Warhol Museum is here.  Enjoy it, and have fun unleashing your inner Andy!