- Billy Name
Infobox Artist
bgcolour = #6495ED
name = Billy Linich
imagesize = 125px
caption = Billy Name
birthname =
birthdate = 1940
location = Poughkeepsie, New York
deathdate =
deathplace =
nationality = flagicon|USA American
field = archivist/photographer/lighting designer
training =
movement =
works =
patrons =
influenced by =
influenced =
awards =Billy Linich, known as Billy Name and Billy Goat, (born
22 February 1940 inPoughkeepsie, New York ), is an Americanphotographer ,artist ,filmmaker ,lighting designer , and the mainarchivist of theWarhol era from 1964-70. [ [http://www.irvinecontemporaryart.com/otherExhibitions.php?eventID=44 Celebrity Portraits from the Warhol Factory Years] , Press release from the Irving Contemporary gallery exhibition.] His brief romance and subsequent close friendship withAndy Warhol fostered substantial collaboration on Warhol's most influential work, including his films, paintings and sculpture. [ [http://www.artnet.com/Magazine/index/robinson/robinson8-13-04.asp Book Report] , Walter Robinson, Artnet Magazine, August 13, 2004.] Linich became "Billy Name" among the coterie known as theWarhol Superstar s, and he is considered one of the most significant. He was responsible for "silverizing" Warhol's New York studiothe Factory , where he lived until 1970. His images ofEdie Sedgwick ,Lou Reed and theVelvet Underground ,Nico , Ultra Violet,Bob Dylan ,Mary Woronov and of Warhol himself, amongst others, are portraits of the height of thePop art era. [Steven Watson, "Factory Made: Warhol and the Sixties" (2003) Pantheon, New York]Career in theater
Linich began his career as a lighting designer in the theater in 1960 when he worked at
Serendipity 3 as a waiter. [Steve Watson, "Factory Made: Warhold and the Sixties" (Pantheon Books, 2003).] His first apprenticeship was with Nick Cernovich, who had won anObie Award for best lighting. Linich learned from Cernovich. "It was the end of the period of the romantic avant-garde, the romantic bohemia, where artists kept younger artists and a male artist would always have a young man around."Fact|date=November 2007He also played music in theTheatre of Eternal Music .Collaboration with Andy Warhol
When Andy Warhol decided, during the last months of 1963, that he was too busy making films to take pictures at The Factory (and, besides, the camera was too complicated and it had too many buttons), he turned the task over to Billy Name. He was the obvious choice for “Factory Fotographer.” Prior to his association with Andy, in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, Linich had been involved in theatrical lighting design. First, under the tutelage of the pre-eminent lighting designer for the avant-garde dance world, Nick Cernovich, with whom Linich designed the lighting for the
Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds in 1960, and then later atJudson Memorial Church , New York Poets Theater, andLiving Theater , Linich illuminated the likes of dancersLucinda Childs ,Yvonne Rainer ,Merce Cunningham , James Waring andFreddy Herko . And Andy’s regard for Linich was high. As he would later explain::"(He) had a manner that inspired confidence...He gave the impression of being generally creative - he dabbled in lights and papers and artists’ materials... I picked up a lot from Billy..." The Warhol Diaries; Warhol & Hackett
Within a short time, Linich became a permanent fixture at the Factory, having taken up residence in the back of the studio at 231 East 47th Street during his trademark silvering of its interior from January to April 1964. With the gift of Andy’s 35-mm single-lens reflex Honeywell Pentax camera and the operating manual in hand, Billy Name taught himself the technical aspects of photography. He had soon converted one of the Factory’s bathrooms into a darkroom where he mastered the methods of processing and developing film. These newly acquired skills, combined with his background in lighting, his innate sense of artistry and his desire to experiment, resulted in the production of an intensive body of work that captured for posterity his “silver years” at the Factory (1963-70).
Billy Name’s close friendship with
Andy Warhol and his role as a trusted player in the making of Warhol’s artistic environment gave him the opportunity to focus his keen eye on the scene at the Factory, created by a core group of participants who largely improvised before the camera’s eye, evolving a lively, cutting-edge mise-en-scene. Billy contributed immensely to this atmosphere, as his understanding of theater and lighting was important ...to the essential look itself of the transformed space and silvered walls of the factory. The unique position that Billy assumed gives his photographs a particular immediacy, intimacy and knowledge.Quotes by Linich
*"I have a huge appetite for learning everything about the whole field of
Zen andastrology andyoga ." ["Factory Made: Warhold and the Sixties", Steve Watson, Pantheon Books (2003)]
*"It was the Cardboard Andy, not the Andy I could love and play with. He was so sensitized you couldn't put your hand on him without him jumping. I couldn't even love him anymore, because it hurt him to touch him." Linich on the change in Warhol after he was shot byValerie Solanas ; Linich held a bleeding Warhol in his arms while waiting for the ambulance to arrive. [ [http://www.factorymade.org/fm/reviews.html Making the Scene: Factory Made: Warhol and the Sixties by Steven Watson] , Dennis Drabelle, "Washington Post " book review, November 16, 2003.]Quotes about Linich
*"Billy Name exquisitely transforms sexploitation into glamour, and the 'nudie' into a work of beauty." Debra Miller, on Billy Name's stills from the 1967 Warhol film "The Nude Restaurant".
*"B. Linich is like a dog, a poodle--one does not have to have the same responsibilities towards him as towards other people--he is loved for the reasons a poodle is loved." Soren Angenoux ["Factory Made: Warhold and the Sixties", Steve Watson, Pantheon Books (2003)]
*"Billy Linich arrived [at Diane di Prima's California home] the earliest and stayed the longest. Billy was at that time doing a bit of everything: writing, collaging, taking odd combinations of drugs, making mots that sounded way hipper than they probably were, and mostly "looking" wise with a little half-smile and crinkly eyes." Diane di Prima ["Factory Made: Warhold and the Sixties", Steve Watson, Pantheon Books (2003)]Bibliography
*"All Tomorrow's Parties: Billy Name's Photographs of Andy Warhol's Factory", by Billy Name, Dave Hickey, and Collier Schorr; ISBN 1881616843 Distributed Art Publishers (DAP) (August 1997)
*"Billy Name: Stills from the Warhol Films" by Debra Miller; ISBN 3791313673 Prestel Pub (March 1994)
* Steven Watson, "Factory Made: Warhol and the Sixties" (2003) Pantheon, New YorkExternal links
* [http://www.billyname.com/ Billy Name's Official Website]
* [http://www.ovoworks.smugmug.com/gallery/664768#29519254 Billy Name's Images at OvoWorks, Inc.]
* [http://www.warholstars.org/indfoto/ibilly.html Warholstars.com profile of Billy Name]Video
* [http://www.documen.tv/asset/Billy_Name.html 90 minutes of Exclusive Interview of Billy Name in VOD] (costs $4.99 USD to watch)
References
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