Andy Warhol’s Self-Conscious and Perfect Bodies

Richard Avedon; Andy Warhol, New York City, August 14, 1969.

Young men and women recline on their backs, some shirtless, staring at the camera confrontationally, or smoking, aloof. They are often serious and sexy. They are the subjects of Andy Warhol‘s screen tests, where visitors to his studio, the Factory, sat alone with a rolling video camera. The silent footage occupies a large wall at the Andy Warhol Museum, where you can also make your own screen test. Sitting before a camera and under a blaring light for four minutes and 41 seconds, I didn’t know what to do with my limbs or what facial expression to make. Whom was I looking at? I felt painfully inept.

Jessica Beck, a curator at the Warhol Museum, says there is an “uncomfortable encounter with shame and sexuality” in the screen tests. Recording one makes you hyper aware of your body; it sort of felt like I was staring into a mirror, but couldn’t see my own reflection. Read more...

A Guide to New York City’s Historic Artist Studios

Donald Judd’s former home and studio at 101 Spring Street

In New York City’s constantly changing urban landscape, artist studios can be ephemeral. Reborn as private condos, such as Willem de Kooning’s West 22nd Street space, or demolished, like Andy Warhol’s first Silver Factory on East 47th Street, many of these historic sites are inaccessible or lost. Several of the city’s buildings constructed specifically for artists are now demolished or have high rent. Those that remain are rarely recognised; only this July did the studio of Jean-Michel Basquiat at 57 Great Jones Street receive a historic plaque.

However, there are artist studios that are preserved, or transformed, and publicly accessible, with paint still sometimes splattered on their floors. Here are nine of New York City’s surviving artist workspaces. Read more...