20
Apr/11

ROB PRUITT: THE ANDY MONUMENT

20
Apr/11

Andy Warhol looks over Union Square in Rob Pruitt’s sparkling sculpture (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

A TRIBUTE TO A NEW YORKER
Union Square, 17th St. & Broadway
Through October 2, free
Artist Talk: Wednesday, April 20, the New School, 66 West 12th St., $10, 6:30
Guide by Cell: 646-862-0945
www.publicartfund.org/robpruitt
the andy monument slideshow

In 1968, Andy Warhol moved the Silver Factory from East 47th St. downtown to the Decker Building overlooking Union Square Park, where he and his many superstars and artisans would remain until 1974. New York City visual artist Rob Pruitt pays tribute to Andy and those years with “The Andy Monument,” a glittering chrome statue of Drella standing on a modest pedestal in the pedestrian plaza near the northwest entrance to the park. Warhol, his ever-present Polaroid camera around his neck and carrying a Macy’s shopping bag in his right hand, is scanning over the swirl of life rushing in and out of the park, right where he used to give out signed copies of Interview magazine. Commissioned by the Public Art Fund, the silver statue recalls the aluminum foil Billy Name wrapped the inside of the original Factory in as well as the Mylar balloons Warhol called “Silver Clouds.” Pruitt, who was born in Washington, DC, in 1964, explains in the press release, “Like so many other artists and performers and people who don’t fit in because they’re gay or otherwise different, Andy moved here to become who he was, to fulfill his dreams and make it big. He still represents that courage and that possibility. That’s why I came to New York, and that’s what my ‘Andy Monument’ is about.” The second Factory was also where Warhol was shot by Valerie Solanas on June 3, 1968, but Warhol survived, soon able to get back to partying at the nearby Max’s Kansas City and hanging around with Lou Reed, Holly Woodlawn, Joe Dallesandro, Candy Darling, Joe Campbell, and Jackie Curtis, all referenced in Reed’s 1972 downtown anthem, “Walk on the Wild Side,” as well as so many others. It’s a beautifully crafted statue honoring the revolutionary American Pop artist and iconic figure whose work is as beloved as ever these days. On April 20, Pruitt will participate in the Public Art Fund Talk “Andy Touched Me” at the New School with PAF director and chief curator Nicholas Baume, cultural critic Wayne Koestenbaum, and artist and writer Rhonda Lieberman.