The Philosophy of Andy Warhol

Just finished this book again. Some view his philosophy as empty, vapid. And it is empty... in the buddhist sense. Andy was quite zen. To me he was the corkscrew of America. He released the bubbly! He had completely come to terms with his own faults: through forgetfulness. And in the end, he was extremely chaste. Almost a saint in his aeseticism.

Additionally, he obviously had very interesting views on the relationships between business and art. This was part of his deep affinity for "America", as a cultural identity. Money was integral to the proccess. He never shied away from that.

Let me also say this about my 3 Saints, The New York Holy Trinity of Warhol, Basquiat, and Haring. They were all heavily criticized by those "politicized" voices who claimed some find of cutural theft. Warhol was accused of being an expoliter of other people's work and talent. Haring was seen as an interloper, colonizing the true urban art form of graffitti. While Basquiat was denounced as uncredible because he wasn't actually a homeless vagrant. Not poor enough, not black enough.

I'd challenge any such critic to create a single image as compelling or inventive as these 3 artists. That's where it starts and ends with me. Let's see the work. Period. And, having been accused of exploitation, interloping, and lacking in credibiltiy, it appears I am in wonderful company. These 3 Art Heroes of mine all died within a few years of each other, while I was in my late teens. Loss after loss in my formative years. I suppose that's why they are immortals in my lexicon.