Andy Warhol Posters 'n' Pop

The Secret World of Andy Warhol Movies

Andy Warhol is perhaps best known for his paintings of iconographic American images. While his paintings depicting Campbell’s soup cans and Marilyn Monroe may have brought him international fame, he was prolific in a number of other artistic fields including movies. In fact, his film and video collection is a crucial tool in understanding some of the themes prevalent in his other works.

In 1963, Andy Warhol obtained his first film camera, and until his death in 1987, he was fascinated by the power of movies. Over the course of those 24 years, Warhol actively experimented with the medium of film, creating over 4, 000 videotapes. The range of genres that he explored artistically was not limited by conventions. He created epic movies, music videos, personal portraits, narrative dramas and short programs for cable television.

The themes of Andy Warhol and the film ‘Outer and Inner Space’
Over the course of the last decade, a number of American museums have been working to restore some of the Andy Warhol movies, including the well-known, ‘Outer and Inner Space’. In 1998, the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in New York City completed the restoration process of this Warhol film, allowing the piece to be seen again for the first time in 30 years. This particular film is of significance for the reason that many notable art historians hold that the film is a collective representation of virtually all of the themes present in Warhol’s lifetime work. This fascinating Andy Warhol movie was made in 1965 and starred Edie Sedgwick. The film depicts Sedwick sitting in front of a video monitor that is playing a prerecorded videotape of herself. The resulting effect is that Sedwick is talking to her own image, which brings about the popular Warhol themes of repetition, seriality, celebrity and portraiture.

The ‘Screen Tests’
During his career, Warhol made a number of full-length films such as ‘Outer and Inner Space’, but many are shorter and more seemingly simplistic. The ‘Screen Tests’ total 472 in number, each of which is a four-minute, black and white silent film depicting a person facing the camera. The films are thought to be portraits but were made to be confused as photographs. In these short films, Warhol was again revisiting the theme of portraiture and the tension involved when confronting one’s own image.

Andy Warhol was a complex artist whose range of work included the many particular themes that preoccupied him. His film and video collection pays tribute to these themes and is a key tool to understanding the inner workings of America’s famous pop art artist.

Also see a collection of Andy Warhol movies.