"Look at her. Do you think SHE'S pretty?
She was a famous movie star.
I saw her face everywhere.
So I printed her over and over again.
Did I make her famous? Or did she
make me famous?"
Although it is written in a way that would seem to be meant for young readers, this book is more likely to elicit discussion in an art class with older students. The text, voiced by the artist himself, describes the trajectory of his career, from his roots in graphic design for a shoe company to his firm, and oft reiterated, belief that everyone deserves their fifteen minutes of fame.
The imagined conversation he has with his audience explains that, although the shoes he drew in the beginning were monotonous, they were also 'cool'. He explains that he and his mother were virtually inseparable. They liked to be together on all occasions. She even drew some of his shoe designs for him when he needed help. Andy admits that he wanted to be seen as different when he was in art school.
"I wanted my art to change with
the times. So I drew the things I
saw around me.
They're the same things
we all see all day long."
That led to his soup drawings, his silkscreens, movies, and Interview magazine. Each new enterprise grew his notoriety within the art community. People wanted to buy what he was producing, so he kept producing. Nothing was too much. Everything he did, he considered art. He was keen to make everyone famous.
"If everyone were famous,
who would really be famous?"
He continually asks such questions of his readers about fame, about art, and about famous people. The more people talked about his art, the more famous his art becomes. He has been credited with saying, "I'm a deeply superficial person". He may have been right.
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