Andy Warhol Themes

"It's enough life, it's time for a little death," said art critic Henry Geldzahler to Andy Warhol in 1962 (Kamholz). From then on, Warhol commenced to bring the theme of death and to merge it with his already established themes of stardom and consumerism. In the same year, he completed his painting of Marilyn Diptych (1962) – shortly after Marilyn Monroe’s suicide. He painted Silver Liz (1963) when Elizabeth Taylor’s battle with pneumonia was ringing a tone of death at the height of her fame (Suâarez, 128). Subsequently, Warhol developed a somewhat obsession with death and presented it directly through what later became known as Death and Disaster Series – capturing mundane and grotesque deaths in car crashes. This obsession was followed throughout his works, including in his films. However, despite what Geldzahler suggested as abandonment of life in order to pursue the themes of death and mortality, Warhol never abandoned the subject of life. In fact, within his works lies a concern for life, which Andre Bazin calls a “mummy complex.” Bazin states in his seminal essay, “The Ontology of the
Empire was shot continuously by Jonas Mikas during the night on “16mm black-and-white- in ten 1200-foot magazine loads” (Murphy 31). Similar to Sleep and Blow Job it is projected at 16 frame-per -second, which extends the time to over eight hours. Warhol saw the Empire State Building as a star and main protagonist of Empire. Positioned it at the center of the frame, surrounded by the darkness of the night, and standing out with lights on is a testament to Warhol’s treatment of the building as one of his “superstars”. The Empire State Building at the time was the world’s tallest building and an icon standing for American pride and glamour; however, that year the design for the World Trade Center became public (CNN). Hence, the announcement became a herald for the Empire’s fall from its high