The Andy Warhol Diaries

I completely enjoyed this documentary series. If you like documentaries you'll like this. If you like Andy Warhol you'll love this. It's informative and layered. I think it's a great binge watch candidate. This series really captures the New York art scene from the late 60's and into the late 80's. It's an entertaining and thoughtful piece focusing on Warhol's rise to fame and all the interesting and artistic characters that entered and left his universe. There was much about Andy Warhol's life and history that I didn't know about and this documentary series covers all the bases. And yet I find myself asking if anyone ever really knew this complex artist. His flaws and insecurities are explored as is his somewhat conflicted love life. Several aspects of this series really resonated with me, which leads me to admit that I may be a tad biased. All who were involved with this work of art should feel proud and should also be applauded for a job well done.

Great portrait of Warhol and the world that surrounded him that I'll admit I'd didn't know much about. I'm very glad I got to see this. This film is free of sensation and a very respectful chronology of art and artist's relationship with people and the world.

Annoyed by the reviews putting this down. What planet are they all on?! 10 stars to this series. This is such a tender portrayal of his life and loves. There was much I did not know about him. The images bring his world to life and capture, with fleeting images, snippets and moments in time. A marvel of editing. I found this moving and hypnotic.

Wonderful.

Unless you are or were a hard-core fan of Andy Warhol, you (like most of us) probably have a preconceived notion of who Warhol was. To most people, he was the weird looking guy with the bad wig who painted a bunch of Campbell soup cans. This documentary blows the lid off of any and most perceptions people had of Warhol.

I think for the most part Warhol was his own creation of who he wanted the world to think he was, i.e., eccentric, reclusive, lonely, fly-on-the-wall persona who created an almost completely new genre of modern art. He would used this self-creation to at once achieve what he most wanted (wealth and fame) while simultaneously retreating from the spotlight when it suited his purpose.

This doc peels all of the layers off of the facade. What we see is a man who was at times a social butterfly, one who craved affection just like any other person, one who fell in love and had his heart broken when the love affairs dissolved and partook in everyday activities just like the common man.

To me, two of the most startling things I found out were that Warhol was on 'The Love Boat' and he fell off of the back of a snowmobile. I was literally gob smacked.

As an added bonus, this movie is a must see for anyone who wants to know what NYC was like before, during and after the Aids epidemic. It's devastation is revisited in gut-wrenching fashion.

I highly recommend this series if you have even a passing interest in art and the life of one of the greatest modern painters of a generation.

I just had a vague idea of Andy Warhol's art and knew nothing of his personality. I thought several of the people interviewed were really insightful. A few were bordering on bitchy.

Jessica Beck, Glenn Ligon, Jay Johnson, Jay Gould all very interesting.

My only criticism is the timeline wasn't accurate in some episodes. They mention Rock Hudson passing (85 or 86) then suddenly its 1983 in Central Park at a Diana Ross concert. A small complaint, I know.

I wonder why Liza, Grace Jones and Diana Ross were not interviewed. I just assume they were pals at Studio54. Speaking of which, the video clips from that club were really cool.

Lastly, for someone old enough to remember the onset of the AIDS crisis, it was portrayed very accurately (in my opinion) and it also was gut-wrenching to kind of be transported back to that time. Definitely enjoyed the show and got a sense of who he was, personally.