Warhol's Working Class

Andy Warhol is one of very few widely celebrated artists with a working-class background. . . .Grudin builds on this fact, theorizing on Warhol in terms of social class. Surprisingly, given the volume of scholarship on Warhol, this is the first major treatment of the artist using class as a framework, and the book is thus groundbreaking. The author treats the subject thoughtfully, avoiding essentialism and embracing the concept of intersectionality. He points out that in Warhol's art, the fact that he depicted ordinary aspects of life that all classes had access to--especially grocery products--is key. . . .Recommended. --Choice Grudin's arguments about class mobility, the complexities of Warhol's first pop paintings and his use of comics and TV recontextualise some familiar images and lesser-known films. . . .With its emphasis on some of Warhol's own issues with class, the book gives additional weight to his huge reputation. --Times Higher Education An outstanding work of scholarship that offers innovative perspectives on some of Warhol's best-known output. . . . A tour-de-force piece of analysis. . . . Many of the arguments made in his book [are] sure to be taken up by future Warhol scholarship. --Oxford Art Journal Grudin's well-researched and nicely illustrated volume is a trenchant analysis of the class animus that Warhol's postmodern interpreters often leave hidden in plain sight. --Panorama Andy Warhol remains one of the most important artists of the twentieth century, and Anthony Grudin has brilliantly identified one more reason this is so. His cans and bottles, celebrities and disasters record the power and consequences of class performances, stylistics, and affects--especially those of the working class. What's more, Warhol's Working Class arrives at a critical moment when neoliberalism's deceptive promises of individualism, brand-based mobility, and self-determination have come under new scrutiny. In clear and compelling prose, Grudin illuminates how Warhol, too, participates in this important conversation. --Eve Meltzer, New York University Warhol's Working Class is a genuinely eye-opening, original contribution to the study of Warhol and Pop Art in general. Grudin artfully establishes the indispensable role class and materiality must play in our understanding of the artist. Anyone who thinks about Warhol--which is to say, pretty much everyone--is going to find this book compelling and revelatory. --Gustavus Stadler, Haverford College