Andy Warhol’s The Factory
- Andy Warhol was a successful magazine and ad illustrator who became a leading artist of the 1960s Pop art movements. He ventured into a wide variety of art forms, including performance art, filmmaking, video installations, painting, sculptures, and writing. Warhol was born on August 6, 1928 in Pittsburgh, and died on February 22, 1987 in New York City.
- In 1964, Andy Warhol found a loft for rent on the fifth floor at 231 East 47th Street in Midtown Manhattan, which would become the first Factory. The Factory rapidly grew in popularity attended by the wealthy, celebrities including George Abagnalo, Paul America, Penny Arcade, musicians, and transgender and gay individuals. The Factory was often known as a place of “free love” where all types of love were accepted. The Factory often had parties with an abundance of drugs and sex. Andy Warhol eventually had 4 locations in Manhattan that would make many underground movies and films. Warhol called his Factory antendees "Superstars", and he used them as inspiration for his work.
- The Factory became a meeting place of artists and musicians such as Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, and Mick Jagger. Here, Warhol would collaborate with the artists and they would make their music.