Contemporary Pop-Culture Phenomena Andy Warhol Would Love

If Andy Warhol were still alive in 2011, tomorrow would be his 83rd birthday. Although he’s been gone for over 25 years now, it seems his influential pop sensibility only grows more relevant as the years go on. With that in mind, we’ve attempted to identify ten contemporary pop-culture phenomena that would entertain, fascinate, and delight one of art’s greatest enigmas. As with Warhol’s body of work, we love some of these people and things, while others simply frustrate us. Read through our list after the jump and let us know if you agree.

Reality TV

The go-to quote here, of course, is Warhol’s most famous: “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” Although the 21st century’s most popular TV genre has given us more than its share of insta-celebrities, we think something else Warhol said better expresses his experience of life and television as being the same thing: “Before I was shot, I always thought that I was more half-there than all-there — I always suspected that I was watching TV instead of living life. Right when I was being shot and ever since, I knew that I was watching television.” We imagine he’d be especially thrilled about Bravo’s Work of Art, which has done nearly as much to commercialized the art-making process as Warhol himself.

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[...] Things Warhol would love about 2011, if he was alive now. [...]

[...] Contemporary Pop-Culture Phenomena Andy Warhol Would Love [...]

Great post. Warhol would have loved the Internet. Probably been obsessed with it (and its YouTube celebrities). One more thing for the list (maybe) is the availability of everything on-demand; the instant gratification you can find in almost every sphere. We have a service and marketplace where we help people make art objects. Our slogan is "Be Your Own Factory". It's anti-China and pro-Warhol!

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