Andy Warhol is one of the most recognized American Pop artists. He was born in Pittsburgh in 1928. After studying at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh from 1945 to 1949, he moved to New York and began working as a commercial artist and illustrator for magazines and newspapers. He worked for Glamour magazine for about a year. He soon started working as an independent artist concentrating on painting derived from comic strips and advertisements. His most interesting and successful works were his silk-screen printing pieces.
Silk-screen printing, also known as serigraphy, is a modern colour printing process based on stenciling. This process began in the twentieth century and has widely been used in textile printing. In the 1930s it was developed in the United States as an artists medium. This technique beg
ins when a screen of fine mesh is stretched on a wooden frame. A stencil is then secured to the screen. Color is then forced through the uncovered areas of the screen onto the paper underneath by running a squeegee over the stencil and screen. Andy Warhol is probably the most well known artist that used this technique.
Andy Warhol was a very successful Pop artist in that he really seems to have gotten his point across. He gained his much desired recognition through his works. He became an instant celebrity, having gone from respected commercial illustrator to controversial and influential artist. He pioneered the practice of silk-screen printing as an artists’ medium. He successfully made American icons seem common for at least a brief moment in the lives of everyone of his viewers.
Silk-screen printing makes it nearly impossible for two images to be alike
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