New York , 1977. Aurelio Amendola was 39 years old and had already photographed artists such as Giorgio de Chirico . He was in his hotel and decided to dial the Factory's number. The secretary picked up the phone and he only said, "Look, I want to photograph Andy Warhol."
Moretti Fine Art is pleased to present the exhibition ‘About Warhol: Factory Portraits’ by the Italian photographer Aurelio Amendola curated by Flavio Gianassi. The images, most of which are inedited, were taken when Amendola was granted the privilege to photograph Andy Warhol in his famous New York Factory.
Born in Pistoia, Aurelio Amendola’s first steps as a photographer plunged him deep into the world of ancient sculpture before his interests expanded into contemporary art. One of the greatest Italian photographers of the 20th century, Amendola concentrated his work on the protagonists of art, portraying some of the most illustrious artists of the time, including Julian Schnabel, Giorgio De Chirico, Alberto Burri, Hans Hartung and Roy Lichtenstein.
In this series, Amendola focuses on the father of Pop Art and his famous Factory, which he visited on two occasions, first in 1977 and a few months before Warhol passed away in 1986. As an inside observer, Amendola presents the relationship between the artist and his finished work; the displayed photographs reveal the space where the works were conceptualised, contemplated and ultimately created.
Discrete and silent behind his camera, Aurelio Amendola managed to establish a close connection with the artist. Both deeply absorbed by the significance of photographic film, Amendola and Warhol entered in a close game, playing out their respective roles of subject and photographer, of self-representation and of portrayal. Entering into the subtle process of conception, Aurelio Amendola succeeds in capturing the fragile moment of creation, which he extends beyond time, immortalising and documenting the performance of creativity.
