Alberto Venzago (b. 1950) from Zurich has been shaping photography in Switzerland
for five decades. His international reporting has brought him worldwide
acclaim, while his studio shots and advertising campaigns are at once memorable
and aesthetic.
“A genuine interest in the subject is the most important thing
in photography,” Venzago once noted. He is accordingly always in search of an
authentic visual expression of this interest, an approach he also took to portraying
Andy Warhol in his legendary “Factory” in 1984.
Starting in the late 1950s, the American artist left an indelible mark on Pop Art
with silkscreen prints of Coca-Cola bottles, flowers, and stars such as Marilyn
Monroe. After 1963, he turned his attention to political themes, including his
Death and Disaster pictures, among them the Electric Chair seen in the background
of this photograph.
“Instead of doing a portrait in fifteen minutes, I spent an entire afternoon with Andy.
Overjoyed, I left the studio in the dark with a light snow falling and hailed a yellow
cab. As a parting gift, Warhol had given me a signed print with a personal
dedication. But in my euphoria, I left it in the taxi. I hope the driver’s name was
also Alberto.” - Alberto Venzago
20% discount for members of the Circle of Friends.