Who is today's Andy Warhol?

[Little_Nemo]

I agree with Pierrot. Christo is the modern Warhol. Art as a combination of the work itself, its presentation, and the personality of the artist.

[Ellis_Aponte_Jr]

Christo is only seven years younger than Warhol (& older than Peter Max) and was doing ambitious work in the 1960s, so it’s hard for me to think of him as “today’s” anything. Damien Hirst popped to mind first, and he is certainly a celebrity in New York, my only frame of reference.

[WhyNot]

@TruCelt

http://www.chihuly.com/

Dale Chihuly. I really hate to say it, because I love blown glass, and really like most of his work. But he’s go the whole factory thing going on, with an endless supply of sycophantic young adults falling over themselves to be abused by him while working ridiculous hours through unbelievable heat to hump his heavy creations about the place.

Yeah…I’d never heard of him before last week (which probably boots him out of the running) but one thing I kept thinking while watching a documentary about him was, “Wait…the artists isn’t…you know…making the art.”

I mean, it was gorgeous, and he certainly directed the production and selected the pieces for the exhibit, but they were all made by other people (younger, stronger, with two working eyes).

I suppose this may be the way of the art world and I just don’t know about it, but it struck me as strange to refer to them as “his” pieces when he didn’t make them.

[HenryGale]

Nthing Banksy.

Not only is his name and art recognizable outside the New York art scene, (and many outside the scene can connect the art to the name), but he probably also comes closest to matching Warhol’s dual popularity in both the art community and popular culture.

Not that I’m saying the two are equal in that respect, just that Banksy comes closest to getting both at the same time the way Warhol did.

[Little_Nemo]

I’m not seeing the Banksy/Warhol connection. To me, a large part of Warhol was that he put himself into the experience of his art. You weren’t just getting Warhol’s art, you were getting Andy Warhol the artist. You couldn’t easily seperate the art from the artist during his lifetime.

Obviously this is not the case with Banksy. He’s not hosting cocktail parties and giving interviews. With Banksy the art is speaking for itself.

[BrainGlutton]

@Little_Nemo

I’m not seeing the Banksy/Warhol connection. To me, a large part of Warhol was that he put himself into the experience of his art. You weren’t just getting Warhol’s art, you were getting Andy Warhol the artist. You couldn’t easily seperate the art from the artist during his lifetime.

Obviously this is not the case with Banksy. He’s not hosting cocktail parties and giving interviews. With Banksy the art is speaking for itself.

Ha! That’s not art! That’s work!

[Leiko]

@WhyNot

Yeah…I’d never heard of him before last week (which probably boots him out of the running) but one thing I kept thinking while watching a documentary about him was, “Wait…the artists isn’t…you know…making the art.”

I mean, it was gorgeous, and he certainly directed the production and selected the pieces for the exhibit, but they were all made by other people (younger, stronger, with two working eyes).

I suppose this may be the way of the art world and I just don’t know about it, but it struck me as strange to refer to them as “his” pieces when he didn’t make them.

It’s not so much the way of the art world as it is the way of a glass artist with absolutely no depth perception. It might help to think of it in terms of fashion design: a designer might not be doing the sewing, but it’s still going out under the designer’s label.

[MrDibble]

I’d say today’s Warhol isn’t an artist. It’s (that fucker) Charles Saatchi. There’d be no Emin or Hirst without him, I think. Or at least, no fame for them or any other YBAs.

@BrainGlutton

A thing that exists to be laughed at, and that momentarily;

Pffft. Cristo will be remembered as one of the greats of Modern Art. And his self-funding model is highly admirable too.

[HenryGale]

@Little_Nemo

I’m not seeing the Banksy/Warhol connection. To me, a large part of Warhol was that he put himself into the experience of his art. You weren’t just getting Warhol’s art, you were getting Andy Warhol the artist. You couldn’t easily seperate the art from the artist during his lifetime.

Obviously this is not the case with Banksy. He’s not hosting cocktail parties and giving interviews. With Banksy the art is speaking for itself.

Fair enough, but the OP:

[QUOTE=BrainGlutton]
Who is today’s Andy Warhol?
That is, big-household-name celebrity painter/sculptor, known to all even outside the New York art scene – even for those proverbial fifteen minutes?
[/QUOTE]

isn’t asking the question that you’re answering, which might be why we’re not on the same page.

[newcomer]

Julian Schnabel?

[Darth_Nader]

Kat Von D?

[Little_Nemo]

@HenryGale

Fair enough, but the OP…isn’t asking the question that you’re answering, which might be why we’re not on the same page.

I still don’t think Banksy would qualify. He’s not a well-known public figure, even if you define that as somebody who’s known by name.

[BeeDubU2]

I nominate Kanye West. Not an artist or even a great writer, but definitely fits the rest ofthe criteria.