I enjoyed this series immensely and highly recommend it to anyone interested in Art in general and how Warhol has influenced and presaged the current world we live in.
I'm saddened and somewhat shocked by some of the vitriolic reviews here. Even after death Warhol seems to polarize. I would've thought this doc could help provide a bridge to understanding his point of view, as it did for me.
I see him as a creative genius, at least fifty years ahead of his time (or perhaps he was creating our future fifty years ago), but he was also a deeply sensitive, insecure human being, desperate for long-term love in a time and with people who could ill-provide it for him. But he wanted it on his terms and these could be extreme. A review here refers to him as not a "nice" person. I take issue with that. Was he aloof? Yes. Arrogant? At times, sure. But I see Warhol's persona mostly as a form of self-protection. A guard against further possible hurt. To me the doc depicts him as truly "nice" in encouraging so many other artists at a time when the very definition of what could be art was being upended. The fact that the mainstream art world only seemed to welcome him after his untimely death is particularly telling and hypocritical. It smelled money and came running, thus proving Andy's point.
The use of an Andy AI (and so obviously making a point of it) is a wonderful touch, as though he truly was speaking to us from some unreachable beyond, his voice recognizable, but somewhat distorted. It gives an almost spiritual quality to the piece, which I can only believe he would've appreciated.
I also feel it's important for this generation to be aware of just how devastating the AIDS crisis was in the eighties. Of just how many men died far too young and of how our leaders failed us utterly. It's a lesson we clearly haven't learned from, another predictor of the future. This series doesn't shy away from highlighting the importance of that part of history, and how it swept through this group of artists and aesthetes, decimating it and leaving the survivors shell-shocked.
Overall, I highly recommend the series for anyone who appreciates art and those who create it (and their motivations for doing so). For Warhol, creating art as a mirror of culture was what he was born to do and in the end the greatest and most lasting piece of art which he created was himself. Who nowadays does not recognize him? But like all great art, what we get out of it depends upon what we bring to it. The experience of art requires an observer. In Warhol's case, he was both the observer and the art itself.
I'm saddened and somewhat shocked by some of the vitriolic reviews here. Even after death Warhol seems to polarize. I would've thought this doc could help provide a bridge to understanding his point of view, as it did for me.
I see him as a creative genius, at least fifty years ahead of his time (or perhaps he was creating our future fifty years ago), but he was also a deeply sensitive, insecure human being, desperate for long-term love in a time and with people who could ill-provide it for him. But he wanted it on his terms and these could be extreme. A review here refers to him as not a "nice" person. I take issue with that. Was he aloof? Yes. Arrogant? At times, sure. But I see Warhol's persona mostly as a form of self-protection. A guard against further possible hurt. To me the doc depicts him as truly "nice" in encouraging so many other artists at a time when the very definition of what could be art was being upended. The fact that the mainstream art world only seemed to welcome him after his untimely death is particularly telling and hypocritical. It smelled money and came running, thus proving Andy's point.
The use of an Andy AI (and so obviously making a point of it) is a wonderful touch, as though he truly was speaking to us from some unreachable beyond, his voice recognizable, but somewhat distorted. It gives an almost spiritual quality to the piece, which I can only believe he would've appreciated.
I also feel it's important for this generation to be aware of just how devastating the AIDS crisis was in the eighties. Of just how many men died far too young and of how our leaders failed us utterly. It's a lesson we clearly haven't learned from, another predictor of the future. This series doesn't shy away from highlighting the importance of that part of history, and how it swept through this group of artists and aesthetes, decimating it and leaving the survivors shell-shocked.
Overall, I highly recommend the series for anyone who appreciates art and those who create it (and their motivations for doing so). For Warhol, creating art as a mirror of culture was what he was born to do and in the end the greatest and most lasting piece of art which he created was himself. Who nowadays does not recognize him? But like all great art, what we get out of it depends upon what we bring to it. The experience of art requires an observer. In Warhol's case, he was both the observer and the art itself.