Monday 27 February 2012

Mag 106 I was Andy's assistant


Warhol at the Grocery Store
photo credit Bob Adelman 1965

I was Andy’s assistant in the early 1960s when he was in his thirties, just around the time his name became the buzz on everyone’s lips. Yeah, I was his gofer. He was always sending me out on errands – that’s when I wasn’t washing brushes or mixing paint or preparing canvases.  Mostly, though, I ran his errands.

He liked soup, Andy did. His favourite was tomato and he’d eat that while he watched television. One day he asked me – told me – to go out and buy one of each of the different flavours of Campbell’s soups. I said, ‘Gonna try a different soup tonight, Andy?’ but he just told me to get a move on. So I went down to the local convenience store and picked out the soup cans. I’m telling you, thirty-two cans of soup are heavy, man, and not in a good way.

You could have knocked me sideways when I saw what he did with those cans. Who would ever have thought it? We parted company after that. I liked working for him but it was time to move on.

Yeah, it was fun working for Andy, a lot of laughs. I’d have done anything for him – well, almost anything.  I was never one of his pissers, though. I drew the line at that.

 Tess hosts The Mag here. Thank you Tess.

19 comments:

  1. great magpie, has a real authentic ring, the last sentence leaves me with a question...maybe I should just google it!

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  2. An authentic voice here. I think you'd have been safe from Mr.Warhol, if WIKI is to be believed.

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  3. Great fun - I too had to look up "pissers" ... uck.

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  4. Yes-who and what were Andy's pissers?!

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  5. I liked what you did with that one a LOT. Artist can be so random and arbitrary. You were smart to draw the line.

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  6. wow def sounds authentic...and would you imagine coming back and seeing what he did with those cans...

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  7. Good story, I hope he paid well.

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  8. Quite a unique approach to the Warhol image ... I remember reading about him adding urine to his pigments to achieve a really different color .. of all the mediums to work with, I think that would be my last choice.

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  9. Gracious! I thought this was for real. Fun story!

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  10. A gofer like you could go far!

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  11. I believe you - millions wouldn't! Neat tale...

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  12. Very well told, it really did sound real! :o)

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  13. Had me fooled - right to the end!

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  14. Nice writing; very entertaining...

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  15. It sounds so believable. Great write!

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  16. I loved this! Great voice in the story. You'd want to sit down with a pint and hear more.

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