"Andy Warhol Modeling Portrait"
by Karen Bystedt

Before Andy Warhol's untimely death in 1987 at the age of 58, he granted a sitting to a young ambitious NYU student, Karen Bystedt, who asked him to model for a photo shoot as a fashion model. The shoot is significant because it was one of the rare instances of Warhol modeling for someone else's camera, and the images are considered to be unique within the context of Warhol's larger body of work.

In addition, Warhol dressed and styled himself for this shoot and sported a unique neat white wig rarely seen.

The negatives were subsequently lost for 25 years and subsequently 10 out of 36 2 and a quarter negatives found in 2012. After spending months with an archival specialist to make the images pristine .Bystedt created 2 Limited editions of her Warhol portraits and called her collection of photographs " The Lost Warhols".

The piece ultimately provides a new lens with which to examine the legacy of Andy Warhol and re-evaluate the aesthetic ideal, thus challenging the modes in which it may be measured and questioning its intrinsic value itself.

Details

• Size: Image 40" X 40"
• Framed 44" X 44"
• Medium: Photograph
• Limited Edition 10 (5/10)
• Year: Printed 2012
• Shipping: Artwork will be shipped by the artist directly to the purchaser. Purchaser will cover the shipping cost and insurance

Artist Bio

Karen Bystedt, a celebrated mix media artist and photographer, has a love for art that began at a young age. Bystedt was born in Israel to a mother who looked like a Hollywood star and a handsome Romanian paratrooper father. Karen moved to London when she was a year old, soon after her parents divorced. After the separation Karen moved to San Francisco, her cultured mother remarried which birthed a life of traveling throughout Europe, visiting famous art museums in London, Paris, Italy, and New York. Bystedt was one of those little girls who stood in front of paintings and sculptures for long-drawn out time periods losing herself in the art.

In addition to her artistic achievements, Bystedt is also a committed social activist who has used her work to raise awareness and funds for a number of charitable causes. She has worked with organizations such as the amFAR for AIDS Foundation, God's
Love We Deliver to feed terminal patients and their families, and Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles, using her art and photography to bring attention to the struggles faced by vulnerable populations around the world. Bystedt's commitment to inclusion and social
justice combined with her innovative approach to photography has made her one of the most important artists of her generation.