Daily Dose 1875

Timothy Hursley - The Factory

Daily Dose Monographic Images 1875 | Timothy Hursley - Andy Warhol Factory - 34th & Madison, NY "PASORI: Talk about the experience of photographing the Interview offices in the ’80s. HURSLEY: In 1982, I was living in Little Rock, Arkansas when I got a call from Progressive Architecture to photograph Interview magazine’s offices located in Warhol’s new Factory at 34th and Madison. The Interview offices were at the 33rd Street entrance. Pieces of the magazine were in layout, and images of pop culture were everywhere throughout the space. I soon discovered that the Interview offices were one part of the old Con Ed building that Warhol had purchased for his new Factory. The footprint was T-shaped with three entrances and three floors of cavernous spaces. At that time, the Interview space was the only one that was finished. The Madison Avenue entrance was still unoccupied and raw. The 34th Street entrance was a gathering space for Warhol’s possessions as they were moved into the building. Fred Hughes’ upstairs office overlooking the 34th Street lobby entrance was painted red but only contained a desk. Vincent Fremont’s office was on the ground floor between Interview and the building’s other two arms. On an upper floor, there was a large room with huge skylights, which seemed to be a boardroom but later became Warhol’s painting studio. I made my way down to the basement and discovered an all-white space that was empty except for an old school desk. There, I took a few abstract portraits of Andy Warhol. I met Fred Hughes, Interview‘s publisher, and Vincent Fremont, another business associate of Andy’s. I think Fred liked that I was an architectural photographer and had taken an interest in the spaces as they were being developed in the early stages of Warhol’s latest Factory. Each time I was back in New York, I would call Fred or Vincent and come by the Factory to take a new set of photos, mostly of the studio side since it was constantly changing. The renovation of spaces kept getting closer to completion, and Warhol’s collection and art began to move through. I continued to document the Factory up until Andy’s death in 1987." By Cedar Pasori for Interview Magazine, May 18, 2017.