Christopher Makos

This is not Andy Warhol as we are accustomed to seeing him: in dramatic eyeliner and mascara, an asymmetrical blond bob worthy of a Vogue cover circa 1987, his hands clutched girlishly at his upper thigh; or with a glisteningly lipsticked cupid's bow, shadowed eyes downcast; or draped, from the armpits down, in a white sheet, his upper chest startlingly pale. In these portraits, made by Christopher Makos (born 1948), the gender-transgressive themes of the 1980s collide with the spirit of Man Ray's famous "Rrose Sélavy" pictures of Marcel Duchamp as a coy Parisian lady. The project entailed, Makos recalls, "eight wigs, two days of posing, 16 contact sheets, 349 shots"; this volume includes Makos' original contact sheets, an essay by the photographer about his friendship with Warhol, and full-page prints of the most striking images to emerge from one of Pop's most singular photo shoots.

Andy Warhol called Christopher Makos "the most modern photographer in America." The man who first introduced Warhol to the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring here presents the photographic remains of their more than 10 years of intimate friendship and frequent collaboration. For the first time ever, all of Warhol's camouflage portraits, taken by Makos under the direct supervision of the artist himself, appear together, in full-page reproductions complete with Warhol's touch-ups and markings. In the photographic portraits that Warhol regarded as genuine self-portraits, he appears dressed up and in drag, wearing colored wigs and make-up, looking melancholic and shameless. Published in collaboration with Edition Bruno Bischofberger, Zurich.