42 — (^) JULY 2019
INSIDE OUT
Q&A
It’s never not a good time to look at Andy Warhol and the significance of his art – but a new set of
photography books by close friend and confidant Paige Powell takes us deep into his inner circle
VIBE
INTERVIEW: NIDHI GUPTA. IMAGE: COURTESY OF GUCCI
H
ollywood actor Matt Dillon playing with a
dalmatian. Queen of pop Madonna with dancer
Erika Belle at the short-lived NYC club Fresh
- Acclaimed film director Gus Van Sant
holding up an early edition of the Polaroid camera. A
toothy portrait of beatbox pioneer Emanon Johnson at
American painter Kenny Scharf ’s studio. Andy Warhol
looking on as breakdancer Doze Green pulls a seemingly
perfect boomerang on the floor. Elaborate spreads of
cheese, chocolate and wine being consumed by ravished
artists. These are just some of the candid moments to be
found in Paige Powell, a set of four books (Artists Eating,
Beulah Land, Animals and Paige Powell) released by
Dashwood, with support from Gucci, earlier this year.
If you haven’t heard of Powell, it’s only because she’s
been reticent about putting her work and name out in
the world. In 1980, she moved from Portland, Oregon,
where she grew up, to New York, because it was her
“dream to live in NYC and work for this beautiful,
artistic and culturally fascinating publication” called
Interview magazine. As an advertising associate, she
became close with Warhol and his inner circle of people
who defined New York’s arts scene of the era. She even
dated Jean-Michel Basquiat for a bit.
And, as Powell always had a camera slung around
her neck, she managed to capture the wild times that
Andy Warhol’s glittering entourage got up to. “I suppose
I was inspired by the enormous creativity and cultural
diversity that we didn’t have in Oregon,” Powell tells GQ
over email. “I never thought of myself as documenting,
but rather just being part of the mix of what was
happening in my daily life.”
What motivated you to look through your archives after
30 years, and put together these books?
Actually, I wasn’t motivated at all, as it was too
overwhelming with so many boxes of ephemera, slides,
contact sheets, prints, videos and Polaroids. I couldn’t
face the prospect of any sort of project, or attempt to
organise the chaos of material. Everything had basically
been thrown into boxes without any sort of order, like an
unarchived time capsule. But my close friend Thomas
Lauderdale, founder and leader of the little symphony
band Pink Martini, is also a genius historian. He
decided to create an archive for me in his loft building in
downtown Portland. That was about five years ago.What did you discover about NYC when you first moved there?
So many incredible artists, art galleries, fantastic
ballet companies and performers like the NYC Ballet,American Ballet Theatre, Brooklyn Academy of
Music, Laurie Anderson, Pina Bausch, Peter Brook’s
The Mahabharata and other hidden, subterranean
theatre productions. Also, the great neighbourhoods of
Harlem, Little Italy and Chinatown, with culturally
rich histories, before they became gentrified with fancy
boutiques. The quick and decisive pace [of the city] –
and being at the forefront of creating the new, rather
than tailing it.How would you describe the art scene of the 1980s?
It’s easier to describe that particular scene now with
some perspective on it, than at the time. Then, we were
all just living in the moment, when creativity reigned
and making money took the back seat. There was no
ceiling on creativity and the goal was to create whatever
you wanted and just make enough money to get by. Of
course, that has all changed now.What are your favourite stories about Andy Warhol?
What most people don’t know is that Andy was comedic,
talkative and a good business person. He also gave
beauty tips like: “If you don’t drink alcoholic beverages
you can always wear it as a perfume” (like he did with
Absolut vodka); “Always put lotion on your feet at night
like Brigid Berlin”; “Paint your white sneakers black
if you are going to a formal dinner or event”; “Janet
Sartin was the best facialist”; and “Never measure a bad
review by what the critics say, measure only by square
inch – size is more important.”What was the idea behind Animals?
It was a discovery by the editor of the books, Kim
Hastreiter. While perusing hundreds of my contact
sheets, she noticed that I had loads of animal
photographs, and because I am a long-time animal
activist, she thought it would make a great book.
I took some of those images in India, actually. In
1993 and 1994, I made trips to Rajasthan. The first
was a two-week horse safari, and for the second, I was
there for five weeks, which included horses, but I also
became involved with Maneka Gandhi’s Animal and
Environmental Rights movement when she was the
Indian Cabinet Minister, and volunteered at the Sanjay
Gandhi Animal Care Centre in Delhi. I studied Jainism
when I returned to America.How has your work as an animal rights activist evolved?
I locally and globally support numerous animal non-
profits, and started the first online animal welfare