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Dominika Baczek Shari Fleming Composition II 17 June 2014 !
Andy Warhol, Founder of Pop Art ! Andy Warhol once said,"In the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes." What
Warhol did not know is that he was going to get more than just 15 minutes of fame. He became
the founding father of
Pop art in the twenti-
eth century and creat-
ed many iconic works
over the decades of
his career. Although
his early life was
fraught with several physical and mental illnesses, Warhol still pushed to be a famous artist in his
time.
Warhol's obsession of pop culture started at a young age. He came from an immigrant
family. Warhol and his family went to the St. Johns church. For hours he would stare at a wall of
flat highly colored figures that were very iconic in the catholic church. He would later go on to
paint flat iconic celebrities of his time..
Warhol's father was constantly working while his mother, an amateur artist, stayed home.
She was a important inspiration and motivator to his work. Warhol often stayed home from
school for long periods of time due to several illnesses he regularly experienced. Since his
Figure 1. 10 Marilyns by Andy Warhol, 1967
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mother would also stay home, the two would spend plenty of time together making art. While at
home, Andy would listen to the radio and became intrigued with famous movie stars. Since he
was bed ridden due to illnesses like St Vitus' Dance Disorder, he would day dream about a "fan-
tasy world inhabited by the comic heroes and the Hollywood stars that hung round his bed".
This was the start of his obsession with pop culture and would later show in his artwork. 1
When his father...