Artists You Should Know: Andy Warhol

This in from Marc:

" ...so after reading about the push to save CBGBs, I was thinking about Andy Warhol and that whole NYC late 70s scene. Celebrities, etc. ... Why was he such a star [deleted]? Those prints? ... You ever hang with that scene? ... "

Oh, Marc, you are kind to ask and entertain the possibility, but there was no way yours truly would've "made" the New York nightclub scene back in the day. Wouldn't have gotten past any self-respecting doorman - not even on the strength of a pound of cocaine in my pocket, honey. I was a naive, young (Please note: young!) Midwestern dork and looked the part. It all sounded wildly exotic and naughty, though.

Now, about the star [deleted] business - Warhol certainly did have a "thing" for celebrities, but one train of thought leaves out the [deleted]. As with soup cans or Brillo boxes, the repetitious portraits served to highlight The Celebrity As Commodity. Names such as "Marilyn," "Elvis" and "Jackie" became so "familiar" to us teeming masses that we sort of stopped thinking of them as humans. Poignant commentary, it would seem. But then, Andy was a superb businessman, and he did love beautiful people, so who really knows what his true motivation was? Certainly not Dork Girl, here. Thanks, Marc, for the wee trip down (somebody else's) Memory Lane. Catch you on the Cool side of some velvet rope, some day.