Customer Reviews

POPism: The Warhol Sixties

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Why wait for others to come along years later to write your Gospels? With Pat Hackett, Andy got out the Word.

If you've only read what others wrote about Warhol, you might be surprised to learn here to what extent the others seem to be using "Popism" as a source. You may wish you'd saved the money you spent on the other accounts. Few seem to present Warhol as well as he and Pat did.

It is to be wondered how many of the biographers and critics understood him. This guy who "lacked social skills" but somehow during the 60's seemed to have 10-20 friends with him whenever he went out for dinner shows in "Popism" what an extraordinary social magnet AND social observer he was. Sex and drugs and rock n' roll rarely get pushed this far.

"Popism" is surprising conventional in form, however unusual the people it describes. It flows easily. It is among the best publicity of Warhol and his circle. There's a helpful 8 page index of the people mentioned. To name a few: Brigid Polk, International Velvet, John Cale, Ultra Violet, Jackie Curtis, Joe Dallesandro, Candy Darling, Duchess, Baby Jane Holzer, Fred Hughes, Gerard Malanga, Mario Montez, Paul Morrissey, Billy Name, Nico, Ondine, Lou Reed, Edie Sedgwick, Ingrid Superstar, and Viva. You may never have been to The Factory, never seen a Warhol movie, never even seen a Warhol silkscreen, never heard Velvet Underground music, but, if you read "Popism" you'll feel like you know all these people and more.

Warhol's description of being shot and his recovery is especially fascinating. How was he able to be so objective? Andy and Pat are among the best storytellers.

After reading this book, treat yourself to watching "I Shot Andy Warhol" for another good presentation of what this scene may have been like.

Warhol lives.

With some 300 pages of prime slice Warholian gossip this book serves as an indespensible guide to the New York "Pop" scene and the Factory life of the sixties. Though written with aegis of co author Bob Hackett the essence of Andy- detached, voyeuristic, amoral/asexual, and humourous in his own dryly monosyllabic way- shines through on every page. Mildly autobiographical, thoroughly entertaining, and like the subject it describes; utterly disposable, this book is indescribaly essential reading material for the true Warhola fanatic. Yum.

This engaging and fast-moving book chronicles the incredible rise of 60's pop culture and it's devastating conlusion as the key mover of the New York Pop art scene describes in ironic, humourous and incredibly sad detail. There are lots of bodies in the wake of Warhol's rise to American iconography. It's facinating and incredible. Pat Hackett has to be one of the most talented writers around to have been able to compile Andy's story in such a way that it's only his authentic voice that you hear as you read any of the books that she collaborated on. It's well worth the price of admission!

book review : POPISM the WARHOL SIXTIES by andy warhol & pat hackett 1980 harcourt brace.

this marvelous autobiography is andy warhol's first person narrative from 1960-1969, focussing primarily on his art & film work, but also including many famous stars, & infamous Factory characters, various trips he made to california, michigan, paris, and elsewhere, and also depicting the cultural/historical backdrop to that era. It's always interesting to read andy's interpretations of popular songs, films & celebrities, the parties & clubs he attended, and his film-making process, which seemingly took up as much of his time in the mid-late 60s as his painting did. The theme/meaning of POP is explored frequently in the book, warhol analyzing events like nightlife/discos, politics and society, fashion from Mod to unisex, the Pope's 1965 NY visit, music both pop & radical, the Beatles & hippie, all in terms of "POP."

Here are some of the details & events described that I found particularly interesting:
1960-63: travelling to the fox theatre in brooklyn with ivan karp to see murrey the k's rock & roll shows, incl. many motown acts.
his friendships with larry rivers, rauschenberg & other art peers, and the suspicious reception he received from the abstract expressionist painters of the 1950s, an earlier, more earnest generation, as opposed to the cool, ironic POP.
his relationship with underground cinema curator jonas mekas, who encouraged andy's alternative cinema style & projected almost all his films.

outrageous characters reappear throughout the decade, like Pope Ondine, The Duchess, Billy Name, Edie Sedgwick, Taylor Mead, International Velvet, Ultra Violet, Fred Hughes. Candy Carling, all brought to life in chronological order as Andy met & worked with them.

The evolution of the Factory, from east 89th st in 1963 to east 47th in by 1965 to union square west by the end of the 60s.

1964: hanging out with the rolling stones, mick, keith & brian jones, and Bob Dylan.

1966: the velvet underground & nico become the Factory's focus, from their debut LP to multi-media gigs/performances in the village & in selected cities. any rock fan will be fascinated to hear stories about hanging out with nico, lou reed, john cale & the crazed performances they innovated that year, S&M dances, light shows, sex & drug charged discoteques, confrontational noise performances, radical visuals & music -- essential underground nightlife & art historical events as they occurred. afterhours clubs with guide lou reed. the hostile reception the velvets got in LA & SF .
discos like the cheetah and the ultimate latenight hangout max's kansas city.

1967: happenings/be-ins in central park organized by tom hoving. "chelsea girls" the 4 hour, double screen film at last winning worldwide recognition for his cinema, incl. shocking sex, drugs & a bizarre cast of personjalities, in documentary style- no scripts!

1968-69 . turning over filmmaking to paul morrissey, warhol re-dedicated himself to silk-screening, photography & publishing. nico's solo career with chelsea girl & marble index. andy getting shot by valerie solanas in summer 1968 and almost dying. how his shooting affected his work & social routines for the rest of his life. his daily use of polaroid cameras & cassete recorders in every situation. "andy warhol enterprises" was run as a business by the end of the 60s, the Factory was no longer an open house for flamboyant and damaged personalities to act out their their spontaneous psycho-dramas on film.

"POPiSM" is a fascinating chronicle of an amazing era in nycs cultural history, especially the underground music, cinema & nightlife worlds, told with a unique perspective from warhol,. the artist who was behind so many of the ideas that we now associate with that ground-breaking era, who was there & analyzes but always from a dis-engaged viewpoint.
warhol applies his signature Pop interpretations to events both personal, social, historiocal, worldwide from this time. his Pop perspective & many of the art music & film ideas he pioneered in the 60s -- the cult of celebrity, media as art, noise rock, independant, underground verite cinema, multi-media discos & performances, uptown vs downtown, trans-gender roles in fashion & lifestyle-- remain pertinent today, & contunue to impact art, music, culture, communication, & media in the 21st century.

RATING: A

There are two sides to every story. Here at last we have Warhol himself giving his perspective of his most infamous decade of his career. He confronts the accusations that claim he drove superstars Andrea Feldman and Edie Segdewick to suicide, and answers the critics who abhored his art. At the same time humorous and sentimentle, this book is a great accomplishment of an artist reflecting on his career.

This is a must have for any true Andy Warhol fan. It reads like a novel and sheds great insight to what it was like during the early factory days. Andy Warhol led a very interesting life and this book allows the reader to see things from Andy's perspective - what it was like in Andy's world during the 1960's. I would also recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the pop art movement, since a lot of key players are also mentioned throughout this book. Andy does not sugar-coat the hardships which allows for a realistic perspective. Pat Hackett did a wonderful job editing this book!

The intimate stories of the cultural changes that represented the 1950s are told by one who was at the center of the storm: Andy Warhol. In his studio, the Factory, he created large canvases of what came to define Pop Art, listened to music which reflected a radical new generation's energy, and remained at the hub of the avant garde. No other book recreates the pop atmosphere of the times - and any reader of 1960s history and culture must have it.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I originally bought this book in 1982 at the student bookstore. It blew me away with the story of how the "New York" 60s were so different from the "west coast" "flower children." In fact, I loved this book so much, I bought 8 or 10 copies and used them as presents whenever there was a friend's birthday or something. I must have given away my last copy, as I couldn't find mine anywhere. Now, 25 years later, I bought a new copy on Amazon.

The book had a different cover and what was between the covers seemed different too. I was less blown away that I was at age 19. Its still a great (interesting and lots of fun) read, but something was missing for me. Whatever it was that caused me to focus so much on it 25 years ago seemed less vibrant and relevant.

Whether I've changed or the times have changed (both, I guess), this book is a look at (Andy Warhol's) time in the 60s from Andy Warhol in 1980. This book seems so "innocent" (if that term makes sense in this context) from the perspective of the jaded and self-referential present.

Still interesting, but not the Earth-shattering book I thought it once was.

As the '60s becomes the stuff of nostalgic TV and fading memory (You were REALLY at Woodstock, Grandpa?) it is a reality check to read something by someone who lived at its center. Popism by Andy Warhol and Pat Hacket paints a rich picture of life during that decade. For if by the late '60s San Francisco had become the city of the counterculture, Andy Warhol reveals that all throughout the 60s New York was the city of culture, and at times playing the role of the caterpillar and other times that of Alice herself, Popism is Andy's tumbling ride down the rabbit hole of that decade.
Very often pictures of Andy during this period (there are several in the book) show an expressionless, silver-coiffed man wearing dark glasses. Popism reveals what was going on behind those glasses; Andy, by his own admission, could be totally passive; but his passivity masked an intensity about the times in which he lived; observing, commenting, noting everything that interested him. Andy Warhol's fascination with the artifacts of culture; The clothes worn, the songs heard, the drugs taken become the stuff of every story as Andy remembers what it was like as his factory began to become the center of the art world. Andy opines on the Abstract Expressionists that came before him, on the rapid way in which art in the '60s became big business, on the way money became freedom not only to do what you want, but to create what you want, and on how the idealism of the early 60s slid inexorably into the excess and violence of the late 60s, culminating for Andy, of course, in the personal experience of being shot by Valerie Solanas.
Known for his soup cans, it will come as something of a surprise that early on Andy lost interest in the graphic arts. Popism is largely the story of his film career, and of the constellation of characters who hung out with him at their favorite bar, Max's Kansas City, and acted in his films. This is one of the major plusses of Popism, because Andy is seldom funnier than when he makes some side comment about his group of fellow travelers. Another plus is the glimpse Andy gives into the New York of the 1960s - a wild and wooly place, where rents were cheap, art was flourishing and popular culture was breaking through the stultifying moralism of the 1950s.
For those of us living in the debt-ridden, fear - driven 21st century, Popism is wonderful, drug-and-incense-scented whiff of that time. It leads us to question whether such creativity is even possible in today's world and if so, whets our appetite to find it.

Popism is one of the more revealing books about Andy Warhol and his cohorts in the silver 60's. I found it to be very informative and interesting, and is very easy to read. (It reads like your just hanging out and having a great conversation with him.) It truly keeps you turning the pages, wanting more. When the book ended-I wished it hadn't. What a time to have lived in, what insanity and beauty! He truly has shaped modern culture today, for good or for bad!