"In the future everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes". I had heard that statement some time ago. I have been waiting for my fifteen but time is running out. I thought the words had probably come from one of our great minds centuries ago. I knew it wasn't a Bible verse. I researched those words early this morning and discovered the author was none other than Andy Warhol. He said it in 1968. Afterward he would change it. He did not explain any of his films or pop art. He did say the fifteen minutes of fame referred to persons who received celebrity status for a little while and then, as the media focused on some new event, that person in the spotlight is no longer there and his fame-time has passed.
I read a bit about this shy man who was such a powerful influence in the sixties. We see some of his influence today as the ways and lifestyles of that generation in Greenwich Village and San Francisco have come to be accepted lifestyles in our society.
He was born Andrew Warhola in 1928. He was the central figure in pop art culture. His paintings were highly sought. Most of them were not ones you would want to display in your living room. He was a movie maker. Most of those movies were unacceptable among decent people. Andy Warhol did, in fact, represent well a change in our society and morals......but
He was a religious man. He was a practicing Byzantine Rite Catholic. He attended Mass regularly and went to the church on many other occasions. He called himself religious. Some of his art would reflect an Eastern Christian style that could be seen in cathedral paintings. He financed his nephew's studies for the priesthood.
I will leave the judging to God in the matter. I do know that many others struggle with faith over against practice. Morality over against immorality. Andy Warhol died in 1987 following gall bladder surgery. His funeral was a religious one. His estate was auctioned at Sothbys for nine days and grossed more than twenty million dollars.
After this little history lesson I decided I would forego my fifteen minutes of fame. I think it might be better to focus on the words of the Apostle Paul: "For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain".
