First Warhol Blog Post

Reading Warhol's Diaries is quite overwhelming in some ways, especially if you had it in your mind that you were going to read the entirety from beginning to end. However, I do not believe that Warhol's diaries are not meant to be read this way. While the diaries are set up in a chronological manner, you do not necessarily need to read them in order to get an idea about what Warhol is talking about. There are events and people that are ongoing throughout the diaries. Perhaps Warhol's entries seem superficial - he describes parties he attends, things he buys and how much he pays for them, and people he has seen and what he thinks of their appearance. Yet, there are moments when he mentions going to church or supporting his nephew to become a priest that one gets an idea that perhaps there is more to Warhol than just the superficial persona he often allowed the public to see.

What I am interested in discovering from reading Warhol's autobiographical text and his art is where is Warhol's imprint found? I am particularly interested in Warhol's Last Supper series (below I have included a piece entitled "Dove Last Supper," 1987 to give you a visual). What is it about these pieces that makes them Warhol's without looking at the actual signature? Is it his use of symbols from popular culture? What is he doing with these symbols?

What makes this a Warhol? What does the artist do differently to make it his work? I think it is fascinating that he has included the feet of Jesus (Leonardo da Vinci did not as his piece was placed over a doorway). What is the significance of feet to this piece? To Warhol? Not only has Warhol cut up popular symbols and put them into the pieces, but he actually cuts up the composition and reassembles it in a different way (see the Red Last Supper or the Pink Last Supper, both 1987). Why does Warhol do this? What is he trying to say? How do we see Warhol's imprint in these works and in his diary entries? Derrida has a few ideas about the signature, the graft, the graph, and the citation that I will also be looking at in relation to Warhol and his Last Supper series.