Andy Warhol and the Gatekeepers 

What I find really disheartening about the case of Andy Warhol and the other postmodernists is that the art world did not learn to be more open-minded about different art styles, the lesson they seemingly took away from it all was that abstract impressionism and conceptual art were now the approved art forms and realism and figurative art were taboo. And that cycle just seems to repeat itself over and over through art history.

Hi, James! There's a 90 year old painter in Kansas who is generating a lot of excitement. His name is Paul Seiwald.

My mother was an artist. As I write, I am surrounded by her work--each telling a story. Different styles and media--many from before I was born. I treasure all of them! When I was a child, Mom took me to lots of art galleries, art museums and exhibitions. The Milwaukee Art Center in Wisconsin had/has (haven't been back east in decades) a gallery devoted to post modern art which features a couple of Worhol's works--one each of the iconic soup cans and of Marilyn Monroe. That post modern style may be what he's known for, but it's important to see his other works and see other facets of his art. I love the two pieces shared in your video. The renamed nose-picker evokes whimsy and revulsion simultaneously. The living room tells the story of a family and has a family of furniture. I love the use of colors and the action the off kilter items give it. The stories of Worhol's works are a good reminder that no matter how well-renowned someone is, they started out with doors closing on them and faced all sorts of gatekeepers. Everyone at every stage of life faces them. Had Warhol played along and created what was acceptable and what everyone else was doing would he be looked upon as one of the great post modern artists? Likely not.

That Warhol Living Room painting kind of reminds me of van Gogh's bedroom painting near the end of his life. Thank you for this video. It was interesting.

Loved this short documentary James.

Love seeing this type of stuff, James. It feeds a different part of my hunger for inspiration.

For me andy warhol represents the inception point of the modern attention economy. Whoever networks the strongest and shouts the loudest will be the one at the top. When the art world became less about art and more about marketing. Not that art hasnt always been somewhat about marketing yourself, its just that i feel that he really really cared about the marketing bit. Maybe not in his earlier pieces like as is shown in this video, but in the pieces he made at his rise and peak just feel like they have souless marketing cynicism seeped into every single inch of canvas. Like a modern disney film but as a painting. BUT as much as i dont personally like his artwork i think he had an eye for good art and used his clout to throw some pretty cool artists into the spotlight, like jean michel basquiat, even if it was only for selfish reasons.

Fascinating! Loved this.

Thanks, James. Really interesting.

Fascinating video!

Thank you!

Thank You for sharing your knowledge and joy of art

I love your content 💕 thank you for making videos

Great story , thanks for sharing ❤

Thanks! Great stuff!

Thank you for this beautiful story

Enjoyed this story time! Thank You!

What a surprise I was reading your book just a few minutes ago, outstand work 👌

Good stuff. Thanks for sharing. 🙂

What a fascinating video!

5:00 I like the painting of his living room.

Cool storytime! And your friend looks ALOT like Andy Warhol. Definitely can tell they're related!

awesome!

I thought this story was a incredibly tasteful way to address the haters from your previous collab video. Keep going James Gurney!!

I always loved his living room painting, it's so personal and well observed. It's also a reminder that Warhol started out as a poor kid from the wrong side of the tracks who didn't have much going for him other than drive and talent. To those who think all he had was shock tactics, take a look at his very charming illustrations, before the soup cans. Before he was a famous artist, he was a highly successful illustrator.

Thank you for sharing that story! Warhol is one of my favorite artists, since he constantly broke the rules and invented his own direction.

There are certainly always gatekeepers but I'm glad there are ways around them. I make artist videos like you James, and while I haven't done books yet I'd like to! Then there's my online shop...so we definitely have a lot more options of getting what we make out into the world. Great vid!😄

I love that Andy's family respects his work. I've been a big fan of his for years. He was such a wild person, thinker and artist. Love it.

Nice!

This is just a commercial? :((

As someone who lives in Pittsburgh, via Detroit, I think Pittsburghers appreciate art and the different genres because of AW and the Carnegie International. There is a willingness to pause, observe, and learn before judging or rejecting. And even in rejection, there is still an appreciation, an understanding. It makes Pittsburgh’s art scene vibrant and exciting. I say to those who are rejecting AW out of hand to look deeper, understand more. He’s famous and his art valuable for a reason.

James not relevant question, but i need to hear from you....why do you use gouache than watercolour for plein air, as watercolour easy to spread and use....although it has problems of light over dark?

The OG meme magic wizard. Guy was everywhere at the right time.

I went to the Boston museum a few years back and saw a few of his paintings. One was where he pee'd on the painting as part of his performance art. I personally don't find it interesting, and I find him extremely over rated. If anything he established the attention seeking "me" generation.

Well I don’t think artists are really gatekeepers. Traditionally artists have been one of the most marginalized and taken advantage of groups throughout history. Love your work, and you are one of my biggest influences, but felt I had to respectfully point this out:).

Is he referring to George Grosz (1893-1959) at 2:26?

Nice

Hi Mr. Gurney, I miss you!

Hi jamess

HI everyone. Sorry I am a French who want buy the videos of James Gurney. I go on the official website. But I don't buy the items. Do you have a solution for an Art lover and practitioner ? I live near to Auxerre. But don't deliver in Auxerre. Thanks for your watching and Answer. I wanted to start by 2 items. "Gouache in the wild" and "Fantasy in the wild".

waow legend

Then there was Bill Eggleston when he came out with the mundane color pictures.......

Are you the author of the book Color and Light? Does it have an Arabic translation?? Please.

James , do you feel watercolour is most toughest medium of all? If not which is most difficult medium in painting and why?

I wonder if James Gurney has made controversial art

*Warehouse workers, that's what they do: They pick their nose* That's a half-joke. You breathe in so much gunk in most warehouse settings it's almost impossible not to.

why use Acrylgouache, when acrylics are available? its almost same like gouache but dries permanently. is it the finish matte or gloss?

Thanks for sharing this. As someone who studied art theory I will always appreciate Andy Warhol as a cultural icon

I simply cannot bring myself to call Warhols works art. But hey, whatever people enjoy!

Outrageous? Oh my...

What a "Soup" Can of Worms you opened. 😋 Not sure about the having to be outrageous, it may detract from the importance of the art and also encourage more egotism which the art world and social media do not need.

At the end of the day you just have to turn your overthinking rain off a bit and paint with your gut😊!

>George Grosz liked it though based

this monologue is only barely directed... i think novelty has utility, but i still sympathize with the gatekeepers. my dad says he likes unconventional art, but i can't quite take him at face value. the strongest emotion i feel from art is admiration for the artist: i see they've put an immense amount of time into making something pretty, and i want to be like them. usually i'm interested in representational paintings--it's easy to make something precise, but hard to make something precise and premeditated. we play games with rules so that competitors can strategize, practice and compare; deconstructing rules is novel, but i find the novelty wears off. i wont bother my dad about it, but i suspect he cares more about the optics of being above traditional art than the unconventional art itself.

Go see Andy's work for yourself. I was immersed in his giant retrospective years ago in NYC and it's clear when I was there that my interpretation of his art expanded greatly and it opened up my context of the art world in general. But Andy is one among many others. And I think his work in part asks us to seek them out in our time.

Was that a CAT ?

This video feels weirdly out-of-step with today's art world and "influencer" economy -- complaining about gatekeepers almost seems quaint, when we're being inundated daily by visual media promoted by mindless social media algorithms that favor the most outrageous and extremest content for purely economic reasons. "Gatekeepers" shouldn't be a naughty word! Art critics and commentators help cultivate and nurture public conversations about art and its meaning in the broader culture; gallery and museum curators help elevate artists who might not otherwise be recognized, bringing artists' works into conversation with one another in carefully crafted spaces. At their best, "gatekeepers" play a thoughtful curatorial role that actively contributes to the promotion of art in society. If you remove them from the equation, all you're left with are producers and consumers. Artists like Andy Warhol might thrive in such a world, but many, many other artists suffer as a result. When the art world has nothing left but Andy-Warhol-like outrage.... what are they even raging against, anymore, and to what end?

I'm favor of gatekeeping. Without It we don't have standarts or values. If you are an under dog or make "outside of the box" stuff go "Indie" or find/create your niche, no problem with that! And i'm hope you do a little bit of gatekeeping on your niche! Keep it's values alive!

The gatekeepers were right!

in conclusion, gate keeping is good

I don't know why. It's juvenile at best.

I think it is most likely that artists like Warhol, and earlier modernists, will be lost (with some of their works probably intentionally destroyed). They did not represent an advancement in art. It is the work of a deep decline into a century of insanity, with world-ending weapons and global wars. People will remember the destruction, nihilism and selfishness of this period, and they will not look fondly on people like Warhol. Warhol was a horrible man who made a lot of people's lives worse, like JD Salinger or Ginsberg, and like those two, he was not a great artist or an inspired mind. "Cezanne? Picasso? Frauds! They have left the road to beauty. They have spoiled young minds. But it will all end in laughter. Those paintings will one day be in museums, like ancient instruments of torture, to show the depths to which art fell." - Fortunino Matania

For me Andy Warhol is super overrated as an Artist. Sorry.

You’re a little old for these infantile Reddit buzzwords and nonexistent concepts.