Andy Warhol is a figure whose iconic works and global fame need little introduction, but until now, no one has forwarded a clinical psychological treatise upon the artist and the creative drive that propelled him to mega-stardom.
In the new book Andy Warhol’s Brain, the esteemed New York-based psychiatrist and practicing artist Phillip Romero does this for the very first time, taking up the challenge to deconstruct the creative brilliance of his peer and personal friend Andy Warhol in all his depth and dimensions, in order to map a path to elevation of the human spirit via artistic endeavour.
Andy Warhol’s Brain is both homage to Warhol for his inspiring friendship with the author and a platform for Romero to further his thesis on Creative Intelligence, which argues that art practice is the antidote to the chronic stress triggers of the modern age. In his book, Romero presents a multi-dimensional portrait of Warhol the artist from childhood to global infamy; focusing in with laser-like precision on exactly what his impact was upon the world, and from whence his superhuman creative drive derived.
Romero’s peerless work as a family/child psychiatrist over forty-plus years led him to formulate the concept of Creative Intelligence, which he defines as the effortful attention of the individual mind to change oneself, evolve social systems, and sustain the environment to improve the quality and duration of human life. Essentially, Andy Warhol’s Brain uses Warhol’s life as a mirror via which Romero hopes to inspire the reader’s own Creative Intelligence – inviting them to reinvent themselves in response to the challenging times we live in. As such, this groundbreaking work is a timely self-help book from a world-class psychiatrist, shining light upon the various ways in which creativity can make us more adaptable and fluid – protecting us from our past trauma and inspiring us to create a better present for a more secure future.
In this brilliant evocation of his thesis Romero shows us how Creative Intelligence harnesses our inborn resilience and creativity in a mind-body process that switches us on to presence – remembering, reflecting, reframing, reimagining, reinventing, and reconnecting with oneself and the world in any given moment. As such, it offers a unique and exceptional advance in thinking about the relationship between artistry and intellect, and the profound elevation of self one can find in creative acts both great and small. Romero believes that his friend Andy Warhol presented a perfect example of this concept, and Andy Warhol’s Brain is an effort to integrate the life and art of Andy Warhol with the brain-mind/art-culture system that informs the evolution of human civilisation.
Dr Phillip Romero will be in conversation with writer and editor John-Paul Pryor at The Warhol Kennedy Residence in London on Wednesday 10th July from 6.30pm.
Based in the heart of London, the Warhol Kennedy Residence is home to a largely unseen archive of two true giants of late 20th Century art, the genuinely iconic Andy Warhol and Robert Indiana. Shot by the late William John Kennedy in the early 60s, these images, which were lost to the world for nearly 40 years, capture the two men in the nascent stages of careers that would come to redefine the landscape of contemporary art. The Warhol Kennedy Residence is the only place that one can experience the collection in its entirety and purchase editions of these utterly unique images.
Kennedy’s unseen cache of Andy Warhol and Robert Indiana portraits was rediscovered just a few years ago, when the late photographer found a set of negatives and transparencies he had taken from 1963-1964, a crucial moment in their respective careers
It stands as testament to the priceless value of these images that Homage To Warhol’s Marilyn, one of Kennedy’s most meta-layered images now hangs in the Warhol Museum. Captured during Kennedy’s very first photo session with Warhol, it is a brilliant example of Kennedy’s intention to always integrate Warhol with his work within the parameters of his photographic image.
“Here we see Warhol in a new way – young, triumphant, about to conquer the art world through transforming the images of movie stars that were his childhood refuge. We literally see Warhol through his art.’ – Patrick Moore, the Andy Warhol Museum
For further information, to reserve a place at the talk or to visit the Warhol Kennedy Residence – www.warholkennedyresidence.com