The Original Fame Whore

What would Andy Warhol think of our society today if he were still alive? Through his work, Warhol explored our fascination with commercialism, blurring the lines between the iconic Coke can and Marilyn Monroe. Both were sellable commodities with little value beyond the superficial. It’s as if Warhol was warning us of where we’d be heading in a few years. Now it’s easy to become a marketable product — just ask people like Kim Kardashian, who contain the empty calories of soda but rake in millions.
The irony is that Warhol himself became a high-priced good after his death. His silkscreen painting Eight Elvises sold for $100 million in 2009, and his posthumous persona became even more marketable, spawning everything from movies to Urban Outfitters merchandise. But when Warhol posed for photographer David Siqueiros in 1985, one has to wonder if he understood the commercial legacy he’d leave behind.
Siqueros kept the photos taken 16 months before Warhol’s death in his archives until now. Dubbed “The Model Boy,” the images, handpicked by Warhol, are on exhibit Monday at the InterContinental Miami.

Dec. 12-Jan. 1, 8 a.m.-11 p.m., 2011