Ultra Violet (Isabelle Collin Dufresne)

Infobox_Person

name = Isabelle Colin Dufresne
other_names = Ultra Violet

---

imagesize = 250px
birth_date = Birth date and age|1935|9|6|df=y
birth_place = La Tronche, Grenoble, France
occupation = Actor, Writer, Artist

Isabelle Collin Dufresne (born 6 September 1935 in La Tronche, Grenoble, France; stage name Ultra Violet) is a French-American artist, author and former colleague and superstar of Andy Warhol.

Early life

Isabelle Dufresne was brought up in a strictly religious family but rebelled at an early age. She was exorcised as a young woman and instructed at a Catholic school. In 1951, she left France to try her luck in New York. After a meeting with Salvador Dalí, she became his "muse” and pupil and then became an artist in her own right. In the 1960s, Dufresne began to follow the progressive American art scene including Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, and James Rosenquist.

Warhol and the Factory

She eventually came into contact with Andy Warhol and his Factory. In 1964, she selected the stage name Ultra Violet at Warhol's suggestion because it was her preferred fashion—her hair color at the time was normally violet or lilac colored. She became the first "superstar" in Warhol's FactoryFact|date=August 2007 and played multiple roles in his films. However, towards the late 1960s, she was "dethroned" in favor of Viva, a more recent discovery.

Later career

In the mid 1970s, she published her autobiography, “"Famous for 15 Minutes: My Years with Andy Warhol".” After a comprehensive review of the book in the New York Times, it was published worldwide. Afterwards, she returned to France; in 1990, she opened a studio in Nice and wrote a book detailing her own ideas about art, "“L'Ultratique”".

In the Spring of 2007 Ultra Violet gave a retrospective lecture at the New York Institute of Technology in New York CityFact|date=January 2008.

Later life

For the last 15 years Ultra Violet has been a practicing member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsFact|date=January 2008. She continues to work out of her Chelsea studio producing works dealing with IXXI, Mickey Mouse and Apocalyptic Angels.

Books

* Isabelle Dufresne/Ultra Violet: " Famous for 15 Minutes. My Years With Andy Warhol. " English-language edition in paperback. Avon Books, 1990, ISBN 0-380-70843-4
* Isabelle Dufresne/Ultra Violet: "Andy Warhol, Superstar. " ISBN 3-7857-0535-2 (German, at present only a second-hand example available)

Filmography

* Blackout (1994) .... Arlette
* An Unmarried Woman (1978) .... Lady MacBeth
* Curse of the Headless Horseman (1974) .... Contessa Isabel du Fren
* Bad Charleston Charlie (1973)
* Savages (1972) .... Iliona, a Decadent
* Believe in Me (1971) .... Patient
* The Telephone Book (1971) .... Whip Woman
* Simon, King of the Witches (1971) .... Sarah
* Taking Off (1971) .... SPFC Member
* Dinah East (1970) .... Daniela
* Brand X (1970) .... Singer
* The Phynx (1970) .... Felice
* Cleopatra (1970)
* Midnight Cowboy (1969) .... The Party
* The Secret Life of Hernando Cortez (1969) .... Daughter of Montezuma
* **** (1967)
* I, a Man (1967)
* The Life of Juanita Castro (1965)

External links

*
* [http://www.ultravioletweb.com Official Ultra Violet website, with biography and art]
* [http://www.warholstars.org Warholstars, a comprehensive website about Andy Warhol (English)]