I love Andy Warhol. There--I said it.
He's pretty divisive really, some people just don't "get" Andy.
I like to think I do. I like to think of him as an art-business pioneer.
I like to think that Andy's philosophy that married art and commerce is something I've melded into my philanthropic roots for a unique blend of art, business and positive change.
Here I think, is a great opportunity to showcase one of my favorite quotes from the man himself that really spoke to me from a young age. I first stumbled across it in High School during some research for an AP Art project and it stuck with me:
Let me deconstruct this a bit for you, so you can understand why this left a huge impression on me as a young creative and why it served as a major jumping off point for The Gold Series.
I believe in the power of business to do good in the world IF leaders are driven not simply by profit, but impact. I believe that artists can be true to their principles without "selling out" and I believe that commercially successful art has great potential to become a springboard for new ideas and understandings.
The Gold Series was an ambitious debut collection, having previously only sold work here and there. But I knew that my mission to generate dialogue through art by putting it into people's hands as originals, prints and a collaborative book, would be not only good business but the best way to accomplish this dialogue-driven dream. I believe this multi-pronged approach is intrinsically tied to the idea of business, commodity and presenting information for consumption in ways our consumer driven consciousness can comprehend. A coffee table book then, featuring the work alongside context, seemed a marriage of commercial vehicle with creative purpose along the lines of my darling Andy.