I had met Andy Warhol through Roger Vivier in 1984; I was in New York City at the Vivier office on Madison Avenue. Vivier had suggested to Warhol that we should meet, one day I was working in my office when I was asked by an associate to come out; there was someone who wanted to meet me.

1987

 It was of course Warhol and one of his assistants. Andy greeted me by name , no handshake just a smile of sort’s and asked me if I had the time to visit with him, we sat in my office at a table and he told me about his relationship as a friend to Vivier and that Vivier suggested that we meet and talk about my art drawings of shoes. Warhol told me about his early years as an illustrator and how he made a name for himself drawing shoes for magazine ads.

I shared my desire to move forward to paint shoes as an art form and showed Warhol some pictures of my early work, he told me that he really liked the direction I was going in,  and that he was interested in what I was doing. 

I was very happy with our first meeting, which turned into a twice monthly ritual for over two years, Warhol often carried Interview Magazine under his arm and always made sure I had a signed copy, one for me and one for Vivier.

 Warhol also invited me to the New York Film Festival, then to Lincoln Center and  to various other events in the arts as well.

During all of my meetings with Warhol i shared different ideas with him and started to develop my paintings, with him giving me his critique of my work over a two year period or so.  Back then I did most of my works in a crayon or chalk format, then I switched to watercolor at Warhol’s suggestion! I was in close contact with Warhol until his death in 1987, I would have to credit him very strongly with the direction of my work and the style, as well as Vivier too. Warhol was extremely supportive and i will never forget those odd little meetings of exchanging ideas and talking about my artwork and where I wanted to go with it etc etc

-Mark

For additional images from Mark’s early work, click here

How cool! I knew right when I read Mark’s bio that I just had to hear more about his time spent with Andy Warhol. Until now, I have never met person who has had the great fortune of spending time with such an amazing icon such as Mr. Warhol. I am looking forward to hearing more about Mark’s various experiences, but I just had to hear about Andy first….. Click on the images below to see full size.