superstar

my husband and andy warhol both grew up in pittsburgh. when we visited his hometown i took in the view of the long unused steel mills on the allegheny river, the mills that helped to build so much of the country. those huge and deserted structures reminded me of my childhood visits to see the dinosaur bones at the 'la brea tar pits' in l.a. 

there is a good art museum in pittsburgh which we went to on the one night a week they remain open. no one else was there. it was wondrous to be alone with all the art. i felt like i was dreaming.

so much is dreamy about warhol. his shyness, his brief responses, the large flowers, the silently shocking violent images, the real life violence and the fame. pablo picasso is the most popular artist in the world, with one exception.

warhol is an exceptional study, ever fascinating and confounding. laurie anderson narrates this superb documentary, which is a lovely choice as her husband, lou reed, knew a thing or two about andy from lou's years in 'the velvet underground.' lou was on the receiving end of andy's inspiring and instigating nature. i feel like the words, 'you do it' were forever on the tip of andy's tongue. one of the great revelations of this film is seeing just how much work this shy wallflower really did.