Andy Warhol: Endangered Species

Andy Warhol Endangered Species
Andy Warhol's name conjures up Campbell's soup cans and his prediction that "in the future everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes."

As the exhibit "Andy Warhol: Endangered Species" at the Massachusetts Audubon Visual Arts Center in Canton attests, Warhol still grabs the world's attention with his bold colors and pop culture images.

Born in 1928 to Czechoslovakian parents, Warhol had the company of his mother living with him for most of his career, along with 25 cats, all named Sam. Candid and hard-living, Warhol hob-nobbed with fellow artists, poets, and socialites, partying most nights. He was a guest at Jamie Wyeth's home in Pennsylvania, "where we sat for hours and hours at dinner, it was perfect, so good," Warhol penned in his diary, and President Carter invited him to his inaugural.

Still, to the children who ran from one painting to another on the exhibit's opening day last Saturday, Warhol is a kindred spirit. He was commissioned by a New York couple to paint a series of 10 endangered species.

"Animals in make-up" is how he described these enlarged photographs he embellished. Why not a red, blue, and green Siberian tiger? Why shouldn't a Grevy's zebra be striped a zillion colors? Warhol's modern-day imitators at the children's crafts table are also thinking outside the box of cray