The City and the Artist: The Influence of Skyscrapers on Warhol's Lifestyle and Work

The object of the study is New York and the influence of its architectural forms on the life and work of Andy Warhol. Biographical and analytical methods, semiotic and comparative analysis helped to identify the consonance of the New York urban landscape to Warhol's nature. A distinctive feature of New York was skyscrapers, the perception of which influenced not only the artist's vision of the city but also his algorithms of actions and manifestations. The city's skyscrapers symbolized power, innovation, greatness, economic growth, hard work, the pursuit of success, and, at the same time, the fragility of being, the impermanence of values, and the simulation of modern life. The ambiguity of the symbolism of skyscrapers and the (unconscious) feeling and understanding of this fact were highlighted in the life and work of Andy Warhol. The artist conveyed his own admiration for the urban landscape in an underground film he shot and a positioned image. Initially, Warhol implemented strategies to capture New York space, achieving fame, success, and material well-being, which contributed to his rise in the art world. But at the same time, Andy came to understand the impermanence and insignificance of existence, which was emphasized and exaggerated by the gigantism of skyscrapers. In his work, the artist demonstrated being that turns into Nothing. The practices of nonentity acted as characteristic algorithms of its manifestations. New York, with its skyscrapers, made the artist feel lonely in the crowd, which was both unpleasant and necessary for Andy. The artist sought salvation from loneliness in voyeurism, but it did not fill the void in his life. The reconstruction of the veiled relationship between New York and Warhol allows for further research not only in relation to the king of pop art but also to apply a similar construction of analysis to other prominent figures of culture and art.