Bibliogr.: p. 189-190 e índices

Andy Warhol is a modern myth. Hailed as a genius by some, branded as a charlatan by others, he has had an enormous impact on art practice and theory - a founding figure of pop art, conceptual art, minimalism, structural film and post-modernism. Uniquely, for a major painter, Warhol was also a prolific and influential film-maker. He shocked even avant-garde circles with his minimalist epics Empire, Sleep and Kiss,and offended audiences with his outrageous depictions of New York low-life - the drugs, the sex and the bizarre antics of his Superstars as in the classic film The Chelsea Girls. Inevitably, the scandals have obscured the serious aspects of his films. This collection penetrates the Warhol myth to provide a serious assessment of his filmmaking. Among the specially commissioned authors, Peter Wollen examines the transformations in American art and culture of which Warhol was a part, and Tony Rayns evaluates the controversial status of the Warhol-Morrissey films Flesh, Heat and Trash. Included are contributions from Kathy Acker and others with personal knowledge of Warhol and his circle, plus a selection of now classic writings by such key 'underground' figures as Jonas Mekas, Parker Tyler and Peter Gidal. Copiously illustrated, this book provides a much needed and authoritative reassessment of the film factory that was Andy Warhol.