Description
The Polaroid camera combined two of Andy Warhol’s obsessions--the disposable nature of modern consumerism and the photograph as ready-made. An inveterate and relentless user of Polaroid cameras, he made tens of thousands of instant photographs during the 1970s.

Many of these were made over a short time span and focused on one individual or subject, sometimes a formal sitting for a portrait, an informal event with friends, or a party at The Factory.

Between 1970 and 1976, Warhol established a rigorous system of cataloguing. He would take home the Polaroids, edit and sequence them, and then enter them in individual red Holson Polaroid albums. These albums, with Warhol’s original sequence and themes, have remained intact.

Red Books is a red wooden box containing 11 of Warhol's Holson Polaroid albums. Each book contains a facsimile reproduction of Warhol’s sequence. The themes include a study of Paloma Picasso, a day trip to Montauk, Mick Jagger, the "Asshole" painting, and John and Yoko.

In addition to the 11 red books, a black book is included which contains a text by François-Marie Banier explaining the significance of these albums within Warhol’s oeuvre and how they act as a visual diary of his work, offering unrivaled insight into his creative process. Essay by François Marie Banier. Other, 5.5 x 3.5 in. / 300 pgs / 220 color.



Details
Paperback: 300 pages
Publisher: Steidl Publishing; Boxed edition (September 15, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN: 3865210198
Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 3.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.92 pounds

Reviews

WARHOL MANIA: SEEING RED AND LOVING IT,
Reviewer: Alan W. Petrucelli (THE ENTERTAINMENT REPORT (ALAN W. PETRUCELLI))
Andy Warhol Red Books is a coffee table book that's actually several books in one --- and a set that silences all competitors. These are copies of the Polaroids Andy took, neatly bound in red covers and bound with plastic spiral bindings --- 11 mini books in all with the twelfth (black) volume containing the pertinent names and dates of the photographs, plus an introduction by the internationally-renowned photographer Francois-Marie Banier.

It is Banier who captures the allure of these instant photos best: "In his Polaroids, in those seemingly lacquered little pictures, I saw at once the cry of frantic and reckless youth, lost in a pseudo-civilized world.

Each of these Polaroids goes one step further, telling us, from the land of Mickey Mouse: you are all Andy Warhol characters." From 1969 to 1975, celebrities (from Christopher Isherwood to Mick Jagger, Caroline Kennedy to Rudolph Nureyev, Rex Reed to Sylvia Miles), drag queens and assorted Warholian characters are captured crisply, realistically, and above all, affectionately. Owning the Red Books is (almost) like owning one of the more bizarre time capsules of the twentieth century.