ANDY WARHOL
(August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987)
Born on this day in 1928, Andy Warhol changed my life in ways I never could have imagined when, as a curious kid, I first encountered his name. And his work.
Before Andy, the art world felt off-limits to a working-class kid like me. Museums were cold and unwelcoming, and abstract paintings left me unmoved. “Fine art” felt like something happening behind closed doors—exclusive, aloof, and frankly, not all that appealing.
That all changed when I was about thirteen and stumbled across Famous for 15 Minutes: My Years with Andy Warhol, the autobiography of Factory fixture Ultra Violet. The book cracked something open in me. It was my first real glimpse into Warhol’s strange and shimmering universe—the original Factory and its constellation of so-called Superstars.
Warhol wasn’t just my introduction to the art world. He was my parasocial guide, my Wizard Of Oz, my time machine, my wake-up call.
A commercial illustrator turned “King of Pop Art,” Warhol created work that felt alive, immediate, and electric. Art that stared back at and shimmered with contradictions: mass-produced yet strangely intimate, polished yet raw, superficial at first glance but profound if you lingered.
Through Andy, I learned that art didn’t have to be polite, refined, or even conventionally “beautiful” to matter.
And it wasn’t just the Campbell’s Soup cans or the Marilyns or the Brillo boxes that hooked me. It was the world he built. I devoured every book I could find about Warhol and that silver-painted Factory—a mythic clubhouse of outcasts, dreamers, and beautiful disasters. A place where glamour met grit. Where performance and persona blurred. Where people became art.
I was especially obsessed with Warhol’s Superstars, the larger-than-life figures Andy plucked from the fringes and made unforgettable. Joey Dallesandro, all raw magnetism. Holly Woodlawn, fierce, funny, and heartbreakingly vulnerable. These weren’t polished, traditional celebrities. They were messy, complex, and magnificent—and Warhol saw them. Celebrated them. Immortalized them.
Looking back, I think that’s what truly drew me in: how the radical act of paying attention could change the world. The way he saw potential in the outcasts and outliers. He seemed to say, “Art matters. You matter.”
Andy Warhol helped me realize that art could be anything…and anyone.
Through his lens, I became a fan of art itself. I started noticing brushstrokes. Color. Compositions. Shadows. Moods. I began to wander into art galleries and museums without feeling like an impostor. I gave things a second glance. And then a third.
For me, my artist’s eye all started with Andy.
So today, on what would’ve been his 97th birthday, I raise a metaphorical can of tomato soup in his honor. Here’s to the strange ones. The shiny ones. The ones who make us look twice—and look differently.
Happy birthday, Andy. Thank you for being a friend and for opening the door.
Keep calm and keep creating!
Clint 🌈✌️
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ON THIS DAY = AUGUST 6
BIRTHDAYS
1809 = Alfred, Lord Tennyson = English poet
1848 = Susie Taylor = American writer and first black Army nurse
1881 = Louella Parsons = American journalist and gossip columnist
1911 = Lucille Ball = American actor, producer, and businesswoman
1912 = Richard C. Miller = American photographer
1917 = Robert Mitchum = American actor
1923 = Jess Collins = American artist 🌈
1926 = Norman Wexler = American screenwriter
1928 = Andy Warhol = American artist, photographer, filmmaker, and publisher 🌈
1930 = Martin Duberman = American historian, biographer, and playwright 🌈
1932 = Howard Hodgkin = British artist 🌈
1938 = Paul Bartel = American actor, writer, and director 🌈
1948 = Steve Endean = American activist and HRC founder 🌈
1950 = Carole Pope = Canadian rock singer-songwriter 🌈
1957 = Jim McGreevey = American seminarian and politician 🌈
1962 = Michelle Yeoh = Malaysian-Hong Kong actor and producer
1969 = Elliott Smith = American singer-songwriter
1970 = M. Night Shyamalan = Indian-American filmmaker
1972 = Geri Halliwell = English singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor
1972 = Jason O'Mara = Irish actor
1973 = Vera Farmiga = American actor
1976 = Soleil Moon Frye = American actor
1981 = Leslie Odom Jr. = American actor and singer
EVENTS
1926 = Don Juan, starring John Barrymore, is released by Warner Bros. It’s the first public screening of a sound film using the Vitaphone process.
1956 = After going bankrupt, the DuMont Television Network makes its final broadcast, Boxing from St. Nicholas Arena.
1965 = POTUS Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law.
1991 = Tim Berners-Lee releases files describing his idea for the World Wide Web. WWW makes its first appearance as a publicly available service on the Internet.
HOLIDAYS + OBSERVANCES
PORTRAIT + QUOTES OF THE DAY
“They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.”
Andy Warhol
“There should be a course in the first grade on love.”
Andy Warhol
A nice reflection on how you were drawn to art. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Clint and Andy Warhol, An Art Hero. IIRC from Warhol (1989) by his friend, art critic David Bourdon I probably read UltraViolet's book too, but the one I remember was Superstar, by Viva, because my grandmother loved it as much as I did.. “They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.” YES. 🖤🤎💜💙💚💛🧡❤🏳🌈🌈