Andy Warhol's Celebrity Polaroids On View In NYC (PHOTOS)

WHO: Andy Warhol

WHAT: Big Shots: Andy Warhol Polaroids of Celebrities

WHEN: January 8 - February 26, 2011

WHERE: Danziger Projects
534 WEST 24TH STREET
NEW YORK CITY, NY 10011

WHY: Andy Warhols body of work has been combed over by everyone from patrons to amateurs - his brightly colored triptychs to the Campbell's soup can and Brillo soap pads have been lauded and reproduced year after year. His wild lifestyle and art studio (and Studio 54) are equally as legendary as his work and are best represented in his infamous collection of polaroids on view now at Danziger Projects in New York. Everyone from Arnold Shwarzenegger to Diana Ross are in his collection simply proving that anyone who was anyone was snapped by Warhol.

"Big Shots: Andy Warhol Polaroids of Celebrities" provides a look at a lesser-known but seminal body of work by the artist who was dazzled by celebrity and found much of his inspiration in the photographic image. Comprised of over thirty Polaroids of subjects ranging from Debbie Harry to Yves St. Laurent and Giorgio Armani to Yoko Ono, the pictures were taken between 1970 and 1986 on Warholʼs favorite camera - the Polaroid Big Shot.

(From: Danziger Projects)

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Andy Warhol Bianca Jagger (c) Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Courtesy of Danziger Projects. 4.25 x 3.5 inch unique Polaroid prints

Andy Warhol
Bianca Jagger
(c) Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Courtesy of Danziger Projects.
4.25 x 3.5 inch unique Polaroid prints

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Comments

[hacksaw]

06:02 PM on 02/06/2011

Debbie harry was HOT!

[johnnygoodwud]

04:02 PM on 02/01/2011

i think warhol is probably rolling in his grave with laughter. yes, most anything can be considered 'art' to someone else, but if i had to guess, i'd say andy was more an entertainer, more celebrity than artist. and if i can throw in one more description, a bit of a con man. he knew exactly how the 'art world' game was played, and he played it well.

[Widespread Panic]

04:46 PM on 02/09/2011

I agree with you 100%. I was thinking the same thing but didn't know how to say it.

[Tulka2]

05:34 PM on 01/29/2011

There used to be a studio in Manhattan with a huge Polaroid camera you could rent by the hour.  William Wegman used the studio to take his wonderful photographs using his Weimerheimer dogs are models.  See them here... scroll down for many examples:

http://4otoblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/amazing-dogs-photos-by-william-wegman.html

By the way....? The i-phone has an amazing app... i think it's called "hipster" which converts ordinary i-phone pictures into many, many styles including "Polaroid" with the little white border and all. 

Thank you for this little trip in the Huff Post time machine.  ;)

[Katbird]

10:49 PM on 01/28/2011

Everyone was so young. Mr. Time is not kind. *sigh*
Think I'll check out the full exhibition one of these days.

[LMPE]

09:39 PM on 01/27/2011

Andy Warhol must have been the only celebrity who tried to make himself look older than he was.

[GraphicMatt]

10:56 AM on 01/27/2011

I had read in a Warhol biography that he also had shoe boxes filled with polaroids of male penises. Apparently any guy that walked into his studio while he was around was asked to whip it out so he could take a snapshot.

[camanokat]

03:28 PM on 01/27/2011

LOL! That would make an interesting show.

[JenniferWest]

03:49 PM on 01/28/2011

He also used urine, I think to oxidize metal....

[Joel Grizzel]

10:57 PM on 01/26/2011

Absolutely wonderful in their austerity!

[marco01]

03:58 PM on 01/26/2011

Totally underwhelming. I guess if it's Warhol, it's automatically high art.

[Joel Grizzel]

12:04 AM on 01/27/2011

Wow they are really bad. You are right! I just like to post as I have no friends...

[escribacat]

02:10 AM on 01/27/2011

Agreed. Not sure why they're "celebrated."

[Mike Caffey]

01:07 PM on 01/28/2011

These were turned into larger silk screened portraits and were only used for that. He never meant for them to be a work unto themselves.

[femmyror]

02:54 PM on 01/26/2011

These are really cool, thanks for posting! I love Debbie Harry!

[negirl]

02:11 PM on 01/26/2011

He got most of these ladies to take their tops off.

[DL3]

03:38 PM on 01/26/2011

Well....cocaine is a hell of a drug.

[marco01]

03:59 PM on 01/26/2011

Plus he was Andy Warhol...

[Bucket-Of-Love]

04:10 AM on 01/27/2011

He was gay. I'm sure that made it easier.

[Centient]

12:56 PM on 01/26/2011

At first glance there's a small novelty of the celebrity subjects, but the photos do feel wanting. I think this articles lack of context risks making the photos seem kind of flat by giving them more credit as stand alone products than perhaps Warhol would have.

As I understand it Warhol took alot of these photos over the years in order to convert them into portraits and other projects later on. Understanding that, the photos are a bit more interesting as working pieces of larger projects, and not the projects in and of themselves.

[gzuss]

12:22 PM on 01/26/2011

Also in the Little Apple (Manhattan...Kansas) until April 3:

http://beach.k-state.edu/exhibitions/256/big-shots-the-photography-of-andy-warhol

[Jerome Morrow]

11:58 AM on 01/26/2011

Holy snap! Women looked so good in the 70's and 80's...

[Alouisious Manfree]

11:50 AM on 01/26/2011

Ummm...they're POLAROIDS!! Anyone can take them. Why does the fact that Warhol took them make them valuable art?

[Jerome Morrow]

11:59 AM on 01/26/2011

Because he is a famous artist. That really is the only reason. If you go out and become a famous artist, then everything you do has a chance to be valuable too.

So off with you, go out and do it...

[okcalculator]

12:33 PM on 01/26/2011

A famous artist taking pics of famous people. nice photos, but nothing great. BTW, I thought Vercace was Franco Harris, but I'm a dummy

[JenniferWest]

03:44 PM on 01/28/2011

Yeah, It started with artists like Rembrandt!

[Dewts]

12:39 PM on 01/26/2011

warhol was barely an artist. he never created an original imagine in his life.

[joeyc]

01:07 PM on 01/26/2011

He would probably laugh at your comment and agree with you. He was never hung up on the concept of "originality".

[WHTrout]

03:02 PM on 01/26/2011

This comment demonstrates a really poor, gutter-level understanding of "creativity."
Andy Warhol was one of the two most influential artists of the 20th Century (the 1st being Marcel Duchamp).
Next time one of YOUR paintings sells for tens of millions of dollars, call me up and we'll discuss "creativity," okay?

[BlueOnBlue]

11:49 AM on 01/26/2011

Meh.

Overrated. The only difference between these and pics anyone in college took with an SX-70 is that Warhol knew more famous people.

[Jim Janek]

11:56 AM on 01/26/2011

that, and well, context.