Andy Warhol Popularly known as Andy Warhol, Andrew Warhola was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Andy was the youngest of three children. Both of his parents were immigrants from Czechoslovakia. As a child, Andy was very artistic and creative, which was greatly encouraged by his mother (TheArtStory.org). He had social problems that kept Andy at home for much of his childhood, but he graduated from high school at the age of sixteen. When Warhol's father died, he knew he saw talent in his son, so he created a fund to save money so Andy could get the education he needed to pursue his artistic career. He attended Carnegie Mellon University and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1945. Warhol began his career in New York shortly after graduating. After Warhol's career began, his work became known throughout the world. His artwork has been exhibited in many different locations around New York City. Charles Lisanby, one of Warhol's closest friends, accompanied Warhol on a trip around the world (Warhol.org). In 1964, Warhol's exhibit in his studio “The Factory” became known as the place to be in New York City. Warhol's life changed dramatically in 1968 when he was killed by a women's rights activist, Valerie Solanas. After being shot in the lung, Warhol was declared clinically dead when he arrived at the hospital and was operated on for five and a half hours and was resuscitated (Warholstars.org). This incident is known as Andy's "first death" before his actual death in 1987. Andy eventually died from complications after gull bladder surgery. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Andy Warhol's work began to become big in the pop culture era. His work was an important contribution to the pop art movement in the 1950s. An example of one of Warhol's contributions is his work on the Campbells soup can. He embraced pop culture in his artwork so that it would seem more appealing to the audience. Another famous Warhol painting is his painting of Marilyn Monroe. He created this piece via silkscreen because he wanted to be able to create paintings faster (Shilling). Early in his career, Warhol worked for magazines such as Vogue and The New Yorker. He also created advertisements and window displays for famous brands such as Tiffany & Co. Working for these large companies helped Andy create a name for himself and gave him the exposure he needed to win awards from the Art Directors Club. Warhol loved celebrities and he always had many influential people around him. This helped him achieve the public status he desired. Andy was greatly influenced by the pop culture around him. Much of his work is representative of famous celebrities and politicians of his time. When incorporating celebrities into his work, Andy worked as a plastic surgeon, tightening skin, straightening noses, and smoothing out wrinkles (Hackett). Warhol used his artwork to express what he thought about politics. He painted a picture of Chinese dictator Mao Zedong in response to the communist government in China. Richard Nixon was president in Andy's time, so he created a painting of Nixon depicting him as someone people would not want to be their president. At the bottom of the painting, Andy wrote “Vote McGovern.” This gave the entire world a glimpse into Andy's personal political views and since he was very influential during this time, his work had a great impact on society. Andy Warhol was one of the first artists to use silkscreen. He initiated this process to facilitate the creation of mass media..