Ive started reading Who is Andy Warhol? ( 1995, McCabe.C, Francis. M & Wollen.P eds.) to help get me some new perspectives on screenprinting and repetition and I came across a really interesting chapter discussing Warhol as a dandy and/or Flaneur - super, I love a bit of Dandyism.
The difference between the Baudelairian figures of theFlaneur and the Dandy (according to Lombardo) is that while the former has an insatiable curiosity and excitement for life and all things social in the modern metropolis, the latter (though also a creature 'married to the crowd') is blase, indifferent and 'cool'. His commitment to this attitude is absolute - akin to Stoicism.
Lobardo suggests that Warhol embodies both characters not only in his life but in his work. His passion for the commercial, celebrity society and the imagary of everyday modern life alies him with The Flaneur yet the means by which he mediates this - the emotionally cool and distancing screen print/ repeat - reflects The Dandy.
I do like it when ideas seem to come together! If you are interested in Scottish artists dealing with ideas of the Dandy and the Flaneur check out Alex Pollard and Clare Stephenson
