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Warhol superstars

Group of artists, actors, musicians, and models associated with Andy Warhol in the 1960s From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Warhol superstars were a clique of New York City personalities promoted by Andy Warhol during the 1960s and 1970s.[1] They spent time with Warhol at his studio the Factory, appeared in his films, and accompanied him in public around New York. They were known for casual sex, public nudity, and flaunting homosexuality. They came to symbolize the sexual revolution of the time.[2]

History

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Andy Warhol with Brigid Berlin, Mary Woronov, International Velvet, Nico, and Ingrid Superstar. Photo by Robert R. McElroy for Newsweek, February 13, 1967.

The first recognized superstar was Baby Jane Holzer, whom Warhol featured in many of his early film experiments. The superstars would help Warhol generate publicity while Warhol offered fame and attention in return. Warhol's philosophies of art and celebrity met in a way that imitated the Hollywood studio system at its height in the 1930s and 1940s.[3]

Warhol's studio, The Factory, played host to most of his superstars and as his experiments in film continued, he became more interested in the bohemian eccentrics attracted to the studio.[4] Some of the most important superstars to emerge from the period of the first Factory—known as the 'Silver Factory' because the walls were covered with silver foil—include Gerard Malanga, Taylor Mead, Billy Name, Ondine, Brigid Berlin, Mary Woronov, and Eric Emerson.

Among the best-known of Warhol's superstars was Edie Sedgwick.[5] She and Warhol became very close in 1965, but their relationship ended abruptly early in the next year. Warhol would continue to promote new superstars such as Ingrid Superstar, Nico and International Velvet.

The 1966 film Chelsea Girls, about life amongst the superstars at Hotel Chelsea, was notable for finding success beyond New York City underground arthouse scene.[6]

Warhol and his entourage often occupied the back room of Max's Kansas City.[7] He traded art for credit with the owner Mickey Ruskin, and he allowed members of his coterie to use his charge account.[8][9]

In 1968, radical feminist Valerie Solanas, who was a bit player in the Warhol films I, a Man (1967) and Bike Boy (1967), attempted to assassinate him at the Factory.[10]

In film collaborations with director Paul Morrissey, Warhol brought in new superstars including Viva, Ultra Violet, Joe Dallesandro, Andrea Feldman, Jane Forth, and Donna Jordan. During this period, Warhol developed an increasing fascination with trans women and drag queens, and promoted Candy Darling, Holly Woodlawn and Jackie Curtis to superstar status. The later Warhol/Morrissey collaborations Flesh (1968), Trash (1970), Women in Revolt (1971), Heat (1972) are more frequently screened.

When asked what qualities make someone a superstar, Warhol once responded, "It's anybody who talks a lot."[11]

Several superstars are mentioned in Lou Reed's 1972 song "Walk on the Wild Side".[12]

The age of the Warhol superstar faded as Warhol returned to painting, but a few appear in the last Warhol-produced film, Bad (1977), directed by his lover Jed Johnson.[13]

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List of Warhol superstars

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Viva and International Velvet by Billy Name at the Factory, 1968.
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References

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