Andy Warhol with Giant Baby Ruth Bars, 1966 – silkscreen, 25 x 19 in., edition of 30
Nico #2, 1967 – silkscreen, 11 x 9.5 in., edition of 40
Flowers Paintings at the Factory, 1964 – silkscreen, 18 x 25 in., edition of 40
The Velvet Underground, 1967 – silkscreen 14 x 17.5 in. , edition of 50
Susan Bottomley, International Velvet #2, 1966 – silkscreen 25 x 19 in., edition of 40
Regency Cinema Chelsea Girls Marquee, 1966 – silkscreen 14 x 17.5”, edition of 40
Andy Warhol with The Velvet Underground, Nico's Son Ari Delon, Mary Woronov, and Gerard Malanga, 1966 - silkscreen
Andy Warhol My Hustler at the Hudson Cinema, 1967
Susan Bottomley, International Velvet #1, 1966 – silkscreen 25 x 19 in., edition of 40
Nico #4, 1967 – silkscreen, 19 x 12.5 in., edition of 30
Nico #3, 1967 – silkscreen, 12.25 x 9.25 in., edition of 60
Andy Warhol with Self Portrait, 1967/68 – silkscreen, 25 x 19 in., edition of 30
Andy Warhol with Silver Liz Taylor, Silver Elvis, and Electric Chair Paintings, 1964 – silkscreen 19 x 25in., edition of 40
Brillo Boxes at the Stable Gallery, 1964 – silkscreen, 19 x 12.5 in., edition of 20
Edie Sedgwick and Gerard Malanga Filming Vinyl, 1965 – silkscreen, 25 x 19 in., edition of 30
Gerard Malanga by Silver Wall at the Factory, 1964 – silkscreen, 19 x 12.5 in., edition 40
Billy Name – The Silver Age (September 2015)
Billy Name's images from 1964-68 are one of the most important photographic documents of any single artist in history, capturing Warhol’s most significant period and offer unparalleled insight into Factory life.
On January 28, 1964, Warhol’s datebook notes, “New Studio 231 East 47th.” The space, a narrow floorthrough loft overlooking the street from the fourth floor of an industrial building in midtown Manhattan, would become The Silver Factory — a microcosm of the sixties and a focal point of avant-garde history.
After visiting Billy’s apartment on the Lower East Side, Warhol asked him to decorate his new loft. So, for the first six months of 1964, living in a tiny closet at the Factory, Billy was responsible for the legendary ‘silverizing’ of the space, covering every square centimetre in either silver foil or silver spray paint.
When done, Andy gave Billy a Pentax Honeywell 35mm camera and he then took on the role of resident photographer and archivist. His photographs document life at the Silver Factory from 1964 and show artwork creation, the filming of Screen Tests and features like Chelsea Girls, Vinyl and My Hustler, plus images of Factory regulars, including Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground, Nico, Edie Sedgwick and Bob Dylan.
Billy Name departed the Factory in 1970 leaving most of his possessions, including the negatives, behind. It was after Warhol’s passing in 1987 that the Warhol Foundation contacted Billy with the offer of returning these negatives to him. It was then, in a nod to Warhol’s techniques, that Billy produced a series of beautifully stark silkscreens from these negatives.
Please mail info@davidhillgallery.net with any Billy Name exhibition print enquiries.
Billy caught the energy of the Factory scene, but also its sense of sanctuary – a place where the freaks and outsiders could merge with the glamorous under the democratic gaze of Andy’s Super 8. Sean O’Hagan, The Guardian
