Juan's Art Blog: Mary Woronov

A few years back I was walking through the isles of Barnes & Noble and I found a book that got my attention. "Wake for the angels". I do love angels, which is why I stopped to look at it in the first place. But then I was captured by the paintings that illustrated the book: fluid bodies that look about to burst in flames or to disintegrate or to materialize outside the book. A strong dose of pesimism or realism. Stories with a strange mix of sarcasm, nostalgia, sadness. It was not really so much about angels, as it was about Los Angeles. I walked out with the book in my hand.

I was never too sure who the author was. At that time I had not been painting for a long while, and yet I found the paintings so inspiring. I loved the stories, and I loved just browsing through the pages, knowing that there was a sensibility there that I could not completely figure out but I could certainly enjoy.

Yesterday I wanted to look up the author of the book and see if she had anything else. Well, was that a surprise... You'll see. During the last two years I've been very interested in Andy Warhol, reading his books (Philosophy of Andy Warhol, Popism), books about him, a collection of his nudes... Watching "Factory Girl"... Anyway, absorbing everything I can about him. During the last couple of weeks I have also been in a very Lou Reed mood, listening to Lou and Metallica's new album, Lulu. Watching "Far away so close", in which Lou Reed has an important role. Listening to Nico.

So, was it surprising to learn that Mary Woronov, author of the book, also happened to be an important figure in the Andy Warhol scene!

American actress, artist and writer. "Mary Woronov first made headlines in the early 1960s as a Warhol superstar. She danced with Exploding Plastic Inevitable, Warhol's multimedia presentation of the Velvet Underground.

Woronov's notable appearances include in the 1975 cult film Death Race 2000 and 1979's Rock 'n' Roll High School (and the 1991 sequel Rock 'n' Roll High School Forever), but her breakthrough role was in the 1982 cult film Eating Raoul. " [Wikipedia]