Gael"s been doing double work since Robert Hayes has been out. And the kids say that they think it"s mental with him more than anything, but that when they go over to see him he is is actually coughing. And three weeks is a long time to have a cold, isn"t it? actually coughing. And three weeks is a long time to have a cold, isn"t it?
Friday, April 13, 1984 We photographed the street people in front of the Public Library and it was fun. One man with chains, and I gave him change ($2) and then people were interviewing me. And I"m going to do that more. I didn"t get photo releases, but I think I"ll start carrying some with me every day. Worked till 7:00 7:00. Then had to meet Jon, dinner at Woods ($80). Then ran up to see Friday the 13th Friday the 13th on 86th Street (cab $3) and it was the most peculiar mix of a crowd-rich preppie kids and black kids and the whole theater was a constant screaming riot, everybody jumping up and down. It was the weirdest experience ever. And the murders were so gruesome. I want to do a movie called on 86th Street (cab $3) and it was the most peculiar mix of a crowd-rich preppie kids and black kids and the whole theater was a constant screaming riot, everybody jumping up and down. It was the weirdest experience ever. And the murders were so gruesome. I want to do a movie called Stalk the City Stalk the City where there"s a murder a minute. This movie opened in 1,500 theaters. It"s where there"s a murder a minute. This movie opened in 1,500 theaters. It"s (laughs) (laughs) a Paramount picture. a Paramount picture.
Sunday, April 15,1984 It was a miserable day, rain pouring down. The dogs were running around so that wasn"t too peaceful. I stayed home and did research, looking at the Weegee pictures. He"s so great. People sleeping and fires and murders and s.e.x and violence. I want to do these kinds of pictures so much. I wish I could ride around with the police. But I figure I can just do setups-use plants in my pictures: I want to throw Benjamin in front of cars.
Monday, April 16, 1984 Jean Michel was at the office, he brought his lunch and he was on the floor painting and not talking much. I think he stays up all night and so that was his bedtime. Rupert came by and told me about the show at P.S. 1 where they created a replica of the old 47th Street Factory. They had a silver room and people pa.s.sing out LSD and an Edie running around.
And Robert Hayes is now in the hospital with pneumonia. But I don"t think he has what he"s afraid he has. I think he"s just run-down and scared because that"s what Cisco has. I mean, I don"t think you can catch it that easily.
I did a Dog painting in five minutes at five of 6:00. I had a picture and I used the tracing machine that projects the image onto the wall and I put the paper where the image is and I trace. I drew it first and then I painted it like Jean Michel. I think those paintings we"re doing together are better when you can"t tell who did which parts.
Then the streets were deserted and we finally figured out it was Pa.s.sover. Dropped Benjamin ($7).
Tuesday, April 17, 1984 It was a beautiful day. Took pictures of the street people, of about eight artists who were doing portraits of people on the street. And there was a black ventriloquist with a crowd around him so I stuck my camera up to get the picture but the dummy saw me and yelled my name and then everybody turned around and I had to sign autographs. Took pictures of a couple of preachers, too.
Stopped at a j.a.panese place just to get some nourishment, and the waitress couldn"t speak English but she wanted my autograph. So I guess my commercial"s still running in j.a.pan ($75). We had drinks, my first time in weeks, so that made life more bearable. And called John Reinhold. The 860 office said that Jean Michel was waiting there, but I went to the new office and since I was high I terrorized everybody.
Walked down to 860 and as we pa.s.sed the new chic food place on 23rd Street a couple of black truck drivers yelled, "Hey f.a.ggots!" so that got me down. Especially because truck drivers are usually the ones who"re cheerful and recognize me and wave. Maybe these were f.a.ggots themselves.
Got to the office and called Jean Michel and he came up and painted over a painting that I did, and I don"t know if it got better or not.
Dropped Benjamin ($6). Glued myself, and cabbed to a dinner at Club A ($4). I was at a heavy-duty table next to Diane Von Furstenberg who"s having Michael Graves do her new store that"s next to Vieille Russie. And I told her not to count on a May opening, I told her how long it took Michael Graves to do John Reinhold"s apartment and I said he"d probably take her little store and divide it into fifteen rooms with forty columns in each, and then she got scared. And she talked about a party she was giving for Michael Graves, but she didn"t invite me.
Wednesday, April 18, 1984 I"m just on the phone with Christopher. Robert Hayes is in intensive care, his mother"s coming down from Canada. He was coughing for weeks and pneumonia"s really dangerous, you can go just like that. Before he went into the hospital he was home for weeks, he said from a bad flu. He came in for a business lunch once, though, and I asked Gael why he had round little bandages on, and she said he"d just had moles removed, and that sounded reasonable.
Then there was a lunch at the office for Charles Jourdan shoes (cab $6). Jay came to work glowing, he"s in love with our fashion editor, Kate Harrington. And I said I thought she was going with John Sykes of MTV, and Jay said, "Listen, she broke up with him the day she met me me," so I mean I didn"t want to get into that that. Kate has eyes for everyone. She"s so bubbly, so pretty. Let"s hope Jay stays in this good mood. And Jean Michel was after Kate, too-she styled an Interview Interview shoot of him and de Antonio in Armani clothes and he left five joints for her. shoot of him and de Antonio in Armani clothes and he left five joints for her.
Victor called a couple of times and now he always brings up that I said he could be dangerous and he always mentions Valerie Solanis. He"s staying at the Barbizon now, he said Halston"s changing the locks. He thinks Victor"s stealing his Peretti candlesticks, but actually he just borrowed them to leave with the Barbizon as a security deposit. Victor gave me two at Christmas, but that was with Halston there and it was only on the condition that Halston could get more of them. If he couldn"t, then I was supposed to give them back. But Tiffany does does have more of them-I checked. have more of them-I checked.
Sunday, April 22, 1984-New Hampshire-New York I was up in New Hampshire just over the Ma.s.sachusetts border in Hampton Beach with Jon"s old friend Katy Dobbs, near where Jon"s family has a beach house. Katy talks a mile a minute so it made things easier. It was so beautiful up there, I want to get a house there, too. It"s like Montauk. On the ocean. But they"ve put in bigger windows so the whole view is a window. And they"re winterizing the houses up there. And it was too hard to put the curtains down so I left them up so the sun woke me up every morning really early. I was reading the Ned Rorem diaries while I was up there. From the sixties to "71. He missed the whole scene that we we were part of, though- he was back in the elegant forties and fifties still. He puts me down a couple of times, I guess. were part of, though- he was back in the elegant forties and fifties still. He puts me down a couple of times, I guess.
It was Easter and we went to see a friend of Katy"s. Fred, her boyfriend who"s on the Nickelodeon cable TV channel, was in Tennessee for a whistling contest. He"s so talented and cute. They call him "Andy" because he looked like me with white hair-the Phil Donahue look-but after meeting me and seeing how old I actually am, now they call him "Son of Andy." He did the voices for two of the gremlins in the new Spielberg movie and he got $500 a day. That"s not much. Three days" work. The gremlins are forty minutes of the movie.
Oh, and on Easter services, they got up at 4:30 to go, but I couldn"t go. I didn"t want to go because I would feel too peculiar in a church where they might see me praying and kneeling and crossing myself because I cross the wrong way, I cross the Orthodox way. And they would be looking.
Then when they came back we took a ride and then went to Jon"s family"s house for lunch. They had about ten people. Lunch was outside. They have Christmas-tree kind of trees. The twin brothers, Jon and Jay, were both wearing bright green pants. They"re all macho but they like to freak for the weekend. The brother just broke up with a beautiful model who lives in New York who I met once. He"s in his father"s business. Insurance. He just bought a house of his own up there.
I haven"t heard anything about Robert Hayes.
Ned Rorem met Anais Nin just so he could be in her diary and she could be in his. And I want to do that, too-I want to find somebody else who does a diary now so we can be in each other"s. And also in the morning the Easter Bunny came and I ate chocolates in bed. And then it was time to get a ride to Boston and get the shuttle to New York (tickets $171, magazines and newspapers $5).
Monday, April 23, 1984 There was an earthquake Sunday night at 8:40 in New York. And we had one last year, too. It"s really scary. I thought Manhattan was built on the stuff that wouldn"t have it.
So my face broke out in pimples, I was being paid back for not going to church on Easter. And I was supposed to go on Monday, but then I went to Seaman Schepps instead. To look at a bracelet. Benjamin and I wandered around in the rain and the Interviews Interviews always look so awful when they get wet. always look so awful when they get wet.
I still have a pain in my side and so I"ve changed my appointments with Dr. Linda Li to Tuesday so I won"t have that and shiatsu on the same day, and I haven"t gone to Doc c.o.x yet about the pain because I"m hoping it"s a muscle spasm or something, but if it"s not, I"m a goner.
Cabbed downtown ($7). Called Jean Michel and he came up and ordered Chinese food from a place on Sixth Avenue. And then Keith Haring wanted me to go and see his paintings before they got shipped out, because he said I influenced him-he"s painting on canvas now. So we ate Chinese food and things from Pie in the Sky.
Victor called and invited me to a small birthday party for Halston"s niece, and it"s Halston"s birthday, too.
And Robert Hayes is a little better, his temperature went down.
Dropped Benjamin ($7), went home, got dressed, then (laughs) (laughs) crashed a dinner. It was for Shirley MacLaine and I crashed a dinner. It was for Shirley MacLaine and I thought thought I was invited but it turns out I wasn"t. I mean, I"d had Brigid call and she said, "c.o.c.ktails at 7:30 and dinner at 8:30." So when I got to the Limelight at 9:00 (cab $6) the doorman said, "Oh my, you"re awfully early, aren"t you?" And I said, "But I"m invited to dinner," and he said, "Oh, oh, sorry." And then we went in and dinner was just starting. The guy said, "Excuse me, Mr. Warhol, let me just go check something," and then he came back and said, "Sorry Mr. Warhol, yes, it"ll be all right." So I still didn"t know I was crashing. But I mean, finally I was getting the idea, because it was I was invited but it turns out I wasn"t. I mean, I"d had Brigid call and she said, "c.o.c.ktails at 7:30 and dinner at 8:30." So when I got to the Limelight at 9:00 (cab $6) the doorman said, "Oh my, you"re awfully early, aren"t you?" And I said, "But I"m invited to dinner," and he said, "Oh, oh, sorry." And then we went in and dinner was just starting. The guy said, "Excuse me, Mr. Warhol, let me just go check something," and then he came back and said, "Sorry Mr. Warhol, yes, it"ll be all right." So I still didn"t know I was crashing. But I mean, finally I was getting the idea, because it was really really intimate. Only like thirty people. Bella Abzug was there and later on Iris Love and Liz Smith came in. The theme of the party was "white" and Liz was in a white tuxedo and Iris talked to me about the dogs because that"s all we have in common, and I just had a white turtleneck on but everybody else was in white tuxedos. And the food was really good. Exotic. A vegetable that I never saw before that looked like crinkled-up green beans. And some perfumed lamb that was interesting. And everybody gave speeches. I was the only one who didn"t give a speech. intimate. Only like thirty people. Bella Abzug was there and later on Iris Love and Liz Smith came in. The theme of the party was "white" and Liz was in a white tuxedo and Iris talked to me about the dogs because that"s all we have in common, and I just had a white turtleneck on but everybody else was in white tuxedos. And the food was really good. Exotic. A vegetable that I never saw before that looked like crinkled-up green beans. And some perfumed lamb that was interesting. And everybody gave speeches. I was the only one who didn"t give a speech.
And her daughter was sort of pretty, Shirley"s, she looks like Penelope Tree sort of, and she gave Shirley a kiss on the lips. And Bella got up and made a feminist speech, and her husband got up and then a three-tier wedding cake came out, and Shirley gave her dramatic speech. And then there was coconut ice cream. And Shirley came around and she patted me on the shoulder like a dog and said, "h.e.l.lo there, Andy." Then finally it was time for me to leave and go to Halston"s.
Cabbed up to 63rd Street ($8). Halston"s niece is really pretty now. And Halston handed me a piece of paper in the shape of a boat and I was so thrilled, I knew it was the rent check for $40,000. So that made my evening. And since it was so rainy I didn"t have any gifts with me so I wrote an I.O.U. to Halston and Victor and the niece. "I.O.U. One Art." Liza said that Mark"s only doing his artwork now, that he"s stopped producing plays and now he"s just working at his studio on Prince Street. So I guess he must be having an affair down there. She said he"s almost ready to have a show.
So anyway I went home and I opened up the paper boat and instead of a check, it was just nothing-like "Happy Birthday" or something. It wasn"t a check and it should have been a check. All done up like a boat. It should"ve been a check.
Tuesday, April 24, 1984 I had an early appointment with Dr. Linda Li (cab $4.50). This is all to keep myself beautiful for business. Linda Li with her secret powers, it"s all too crazy. And I can see why these Chinese women make out. It"s all s.e.x. She puts her hand on her c.u.n.t and pokes me in the gut through to the other side, and throws my whole body around. She said she"s never dropped a patient, but I could"ve been the first. She has control over your body. She"s not bad-looking. So I was there for a half-hour being tossed around. Then phone calls ($.50).
Jay"s still cheerful, so I guess his affair with Kate is still okay. I went over to Yanna"s for further beautification. I went past the cops at the Police Academy, and the girl cops are cute, they"re not like d.y.k.es now.
Wednesday, April 25, 1984 The Kennedy kid, David, was the big headline. He"s dead, and they put out an extra edition and they were screaming it, and it was selling newspapers fast. He was the one that everyone thought might be gay. Blond and pretty and fey and not like a dog-he didn"t have those teeth. And this morning on the morning show they had Boy George on for fifteen minutes, and he was being a problem, saying he screams at people who want autographs now. And Count Basie was on for half an hour because he died.
Monday, April 30, 1984 Victor came by and he was putting me down, asking Jean Michel why he"s hanging around with me. And they went off together to Victor"s to look at some things. And I hate the paintings that I did yesterday.
Then Jean Michel called me. His show at Mary Boone is coming up this weekend and I guess he"s nervous. Sent out for lunch ($44.25). And the gossip is that Julian Schnabel left Mary Boone for Pace because they gave him a million up front. And Jay"s still in a good mood so he"s working hard and looking around for a mover to help us move completely out of 860 and up to the new place.
Oh and in Ned Rorem"s diary he talks about some girl named Jean Stein being so terribly in love with him. Something like that. I"d like to mail her that page anonymously, let her see how it feels to be put down in print. I think I will.
Tuesday, May 1, 1984 Got up early. Benjamin picked me up and we went to the Calvin Klein fashion show. We were late, but they"d saved my seat up front (cab $6). Nan Kempner didn"t say h.e.l.lo, probably because she didn"t invite me to her dinner that night for Jamie Wyeth, I guess she was embarra.s.sed. But maybe it was my fault, because when you"re late you rush in and you don"t know who to look at first because everybody"s there, so you"re awkward. And Calvin"s stuff was like Perry Ellis with touches of YSL. I guess Marina Schiano puts in her two cents. The colors were all somber. Blacks and greys.
It was a beautiful day, and I wanted to get out of the office but never did. Jean Michel came by and we worked. Went to the Coe Kerr Gallery for the Jamie Wyeth opening. Ran into Lacey Neuhaus and Doug Wick, and talked to Ted Kennedy, Jr. Jean Kennedy Smith was there and she was nice and smiling. Jamie invited me down to the farm this weekend but I said I had to be packing and moving.
Cabbed to the Ritz ($4) with Jon, we went in to see the Stephen Sprouse fashion show. It was early but it was mobbed already. My seat was gone, so I took Charivari"s. Teri Toye the transvest.i.te was in the show. And everybody was saying it was like the sixties. The show was great, really the fashion is so good again with these disco kids, they have a real look. Like the boys with the straight cut over one eye. So extreme now.
Wednesday, May 2, 1984 It looked pretty out but then it was sort of windy. Was picked up by Benjamin and we went out on the highways and byways with our Interviews Interviews.
And John Reinhold called and said he was leaving town on a trip and wanted to tear a dollar in half like we do and then when he comes back we"ll put the dollar together and spend it.
And Woody Allen won his suit against the look-alike just like Jackie Ona.s.sis did against hers. So now the poor Woody Allen look-alike can"t work in commercials. They told him that unless (laughs) (laughs) he became famous in his own right for something he couldn"t pose for ads. Isn"t that something? But I mean, why can"t they just put "Model Joe Schmo" (cabs $3, $5). he became famous in his own right for something he couldn"t pose for ads. Isn"t that something? But I mean, why can"t they just put "Model Joe Schmo" (cabs $3, $5).
And I just hate the Trumps because they never bought my Trump Tower portraits. And I also hate them because the cabs on the upper level of their ugly Hyatt Hotel just back up traffic so badly around Grand Central now and it takes me so long to get home (cab $6).
Robert Hayes is doing really well, he"s recovering, it was double pneumonia, and he had a crying scene with Gael, told her that he"d been doing too much c.o.ke and let himself get run-down and that he"ll never do it again and that he was going to write me a letter. So it was double pneumonia, not AIDS.
Jean Michel was there but he was nervous about his show and I had to push his hand around the canvas. For the first time in a while he"d taken heroin, I think, so he was moving slow (cab $7).
Then went home and Eizo gave Jon and me our shiatsu treatments. And my pain went away. Watched Dynasty Dynasty, and it was the first time Diahann Carroll was on the show and it was so good. What a camp. She meets Alexis and she out-champagnes and out-caviars her-"This champagne is "burned." It"s been frozen at one point."
I"m so sick of the way I live, of all this junk, and always dragging more home. Just white walls and a clean floor, that"s all I want. The only chic thing is to have nothing. I mean, why do people own own anything? It"s really so stupid. anything? It"s really so stupid.
Thursday, May 3, 1984 Mary Richardson called and said that the only thing that the Kennedy kid who O.D."d-David -had on the wall in his apartment was the napkin drawing I gave him-I don"t remember if I drew a c.o.c.k or just hearts.
Everybody at Interview Interview was thrilled that Robert"s gotten better. I"m going over to see him. Gael said he"s happier and brighter and younger-looking than ever. was thrilled that Robert"s gotten better. I"m going over to see him. Gael said he"s happier and brighter and younger-looking than ever.
Jean Michel called and wanted us to come down to the Mary Boone Gallery to look at his show, so I said we would. So I took Jay and Benjamin and it looked great (cab $5). Jean Michel was very nervous. He was with a pretty Korean girl who"s the secretary of Larry Gagosian, his gallery person in L.A. But he"ll just break her heart. All these pretty girls go for him. They were lovey-dovey, holding hands. Then Jean Michel wanted to go to dinner, so we decided to go down to Odeon because that way we"d be close to the Area party for Vincent Spano that Vic Ramos was having (cab $6). And Robert Mapplethorpe was there and something"s wrong with the way he looks now. He"s either lost his looks or he"s sick (dinner $280).
Area was close by but we took cabs because it was raining (cab $3). And the only big draw was that Matt Dillon and Vincent Spano were going to be there, and Benjamin went up to Matt and said, "Andy"s looking for you," but he said, "Andy who?" And then later I did talk to him and he was just mumbling and looking for girls. He really has to get a good movie soon, he needs one badly.
Sat.u.r.day, May 5, 1984 It was beautiful and sunny, did a lot of work. Called Jean Michel and he said he"d come up. He came and rolled some joints. He was really nervous, I could tell, about his show opening later on at Mary Boone"s. Then he wanted a new outfit and we went to this store where he always buys his clothes. He had b.o. We were walking and got to Washington Square Park where I first met him when he was signing his name as "Samo" and writing graffiti and painting T-shirts. That area brought back bad memories for him.
Later on his show was great, though, it really was.
Monday, May 7, 1984 Jonathan Scull just called to say that the lunch was cancelled at the Whitney that was going to be for his mother, Ethel, giving my portrait of her to them, because she fell off a ladder and broke her leg in two places. What was she doing on a ladder? And I saw her the other week walking on 66th Street, going along, talking to herself, swinging her hanky.
So went to the office and the office was busy. Bruno was there and Jean Michel was hiding our work from Bruno-the ones that just Jean Michel and I are doing. Bruno has the ones that Jean Michel and I and Clemente did, but he doesn"t know about these that"re just the two of us.
Bob Colacello called about the party that Sao"s giving for his birthday, and Brigid talked to him. I have a feeling Brigid"s still very friendly with him. I"m invited.
Tuesday, May 8, 1984 Went to pick up Benjamin and we took Interviews Interviews and went over to Christie"s and the girl there was nice, she showed us the show. And there"s a big fake of mine there, but I"d signed it. I don"t know why I ever did. But it was Peter Gidal"s and he"d done that book on me, so I wanted to be nice once and I"d signed it for him. It"s four Jackies and I never put them together in a print, I don"t think. No, my Jackies were all separate. and went over to Christie"s and the girl there was nice, she showed us the show. And there"s a big fake of mine there, but I"d signed it. I don"t know why I ever did. But it was Peter Gidal"s and he"d done that book on me, so I wanted to be nice once and I"d signed it for him. It"s four Jackies and I never put them together in a print, I don"t think. No, my Jackies were all separate.
And then we left there and pa.s.sed Regine"s and Benjamin nudged me because Paul Anka was saying h.e.l.lo and I didn"t recognize him. He"s so suntanned. And Benjamin knew I did his portrait so he poked me. I just saw clips of him when he was young on TV this morning. He looks a lot better now than he did then-he must have had a lot done.
Jean Michel came up and was so paranoid, he smokes so much marijuana and then gets paranoid. Then he called me up in the middle of the night and said that his painting at auction went for $19,000. I bet mine went for nothing. Probably. My Liz. Probably $10,000. I can just see it. So his went for $19,000. And there were all these parties for the Museum of Modern Art and I was invited to all of them but I didn"t go to any of them. Dropped Benjamin ($6.50). Woods for dinner with Jon ($100).
Wednesday, May 9, 1984 Got up early but Benjamin wasn"t picking me up because they needed him for a moving day at 860, so I wandered around alone, and it"s hard, I"m used to having him as a bodyguard. So I just fended people off by giving them Interviews Interviews, I had a lot with me. Oh and I got an invitation to a second Jackie Curtis wedding. He"s marrying a boy again. A priest is doing it. And Jackie"s picture is so air-brushed he looks fifteen. Blond hair and blue eyes.
The English advertising guy, Saatchi, who wants to buy the Marilyn wanted to pay for it over four years or something, so now I don"t know. The whole point was to get money fast to pay off the construction guys at the new building.
Oh, and Ruth Ansel called and said that Marvin Israel died, but I didn"t accept the call because I didn"t want to accept that he died. He had a heart attack on Monday, in Texas, doing something with Avedon. He was the art director of Harper"s Bazaar Harper"s Bazaar, I worked for him once.
Thursday, May 10, 1984 I went to Sotheby"s to see how my drawings were going. Early 1962 drawings. Fred had been there bidding on them so that drove the price up, but some other guy got them. It"s all dealers who put the stuff in and bid it up. It"s their business. All the people who have the work just bid it up. Ran into Jed looking at Art Deco.
Friday, May 11, 1984 I got an invitation to a show of silkscreen portraits of Francesco Scavullo photographs-done in silkscreen by Rupert Smith! And Fred says I shouldn"t yell at Rupert but I bet they look just like mine. I mean, Rupert knew he was doing something wrong or he would have told me, he would have said, "I"m doing this, I hope you don"t mind."
Sunday, May 13, 1984 homas Ammann called and we went down to look at the work of the artist named Fischl who Vanity Fair Vanity Fair just did a story on. He paints the things like a girl douching with another girl looking on with the pubic hair showing, and a monkey and a baby-sort of copies of Balthus. just did a story on. He paints the things like a girl douching with another girl looking on with the pubic hair showing, and a monkey and a baby-sort of copies of Balthus.
Monday, May 14, 1984 I went over to Dr. Linda Li"s and she did all the right spots and made the pain go away. But then in the Enquirer Enquirer I read the way you can press and do it yourself, so I don"t know, and then at the end of the article they say, "But call your physician." I read the way you can press and do it yourself, so I don"t know, and then at the end of the article they say, "But call your physician."
Wednesday, May 16, 1984 I"m giving Rupert the cold shoulder. I mean, everybody who"s seen that Scavullo show he did said-well I mean, he"s colored the eyes and lips and done double portraits, everything just like mine. I"m so mad so mad.
Went down to the Paradise Garage for Keith Haring"s party and there were kids outside selling tickets to it, although it was a free party. John s.e.x performed. Madonna didn"t start until so late that I only heard the beginning. And that kid Bobby who lives with Madonna was there, the one I got the job for in Paul"s movie. And he"s in the hospital for a leg operation-he had his hospital bracelet on-but he snuck out for (laughs) (laughs) this party. And all these kids were wearing Stephen Sprouse outfits, I don"t know where they get the money. Keith"s Juan was in Day-Glo and it was like the sixties. And they have a phrase that"s like "Mark me," when they want you to sign their stuff. Maybe it this party. And all these kids were wearing Stephen Sprouse outfits, I don"t know where they get the money. Keith"s Juan was in Day-Glo and it was like the sixties. And they have a phrase that"s like "Mark me," when they want you to sign their stuff. Maybe it is is "Mark me." "Mark me."
Thursday, May 17, 1984 Well the big shockeroo of the day was when we"re all at the office and it"s really busy and in walks my brother who I haven"t seen in twenty years. Paul. He came up to buy a place for his son James who was with him, and James"s girlfriend. James is the artist that I wouldn"t help when he came to New York. He wanted to work for Interview Interview and I told him to make it on his own. And now he"s buying the apartment in Long Island City that my brother"s giving him money for. He"s got a Salvador Dali mustache, James does, and his girlfriend was bubbly. and I told him to make it on his own. And now he"s buying the apartment in Long Island City that my brother"s giving him money for. He"s got a Salvador Dali mustache, James does, and his girlfriend was bubbly.
And Brigid was loving it all. Plus I"d just gotten a letter from my sister-in-law. She said that George is getting a divorce and the wife is trying to take away the business that my brother gave him. They have two kids. It"s a junk business. You know what I mean-like they get sc.r.a.p and electronics machinery and melt it down, and they get a lot of gold out of it-you melt it down with blowtorches in acid and then the gold floats. They live in Pittsburgh. And they"re buying up the black neighborhoods on the North Side.
And my brother speaks better than I do, he always was a good talker. He"s a big gambler, too. And he"s retiring and bought a farm up in Erie.
Ran into Bill Cunningham on his bike, I just wish I could do what he does, just go everywhere and take pictures all day. And he used to be a hat designer, but he went into photography when hats went out in like "64. I met him around Serendipity. When hats went out his whole life disappeared. And now he takes these photographs all day, I see him even in odd locations, like on 43rd and Lexington shooting people coming out of Grand Central. He"s so meek and skinny, and he rides his bike, and you never see him eat or drink at these parties.
Cabbed to meet Lidija at 860 ($5). The place was emptying out. They were moving stuff up to 33rd Street all day. Worked all afternoon. Rupert came up and now he"s meeker. Went to meet Jon at East-West for dinner (cab $10).
Friday, May 18, 1984 Went with Benjamin to the camera store and bought the new Olympus camera that Chris told me about ($410) where you can take 5,000 pictures on the battery and then it has to clear for a month. They have the old Polaroid models still with the boxes and everything, and I should buy them up.
Tonight at Danceteria they"re putting on an "Andy and Edie" show-Ann Magnuson"s playing Edie.
My cousins from Butler came to lunch. One of them had called and said they were coming to New York, so I invited them. She"s nice. I don"t mind her. They stayed all afternoon.
Monday, May 21, 1984 Peter Beard has the greatest commercial on TV now. It"s for Kodak. He"s on the outside of a helicopter taking pictures. He"s got a new agent.
Went to a black-tie dinner at Mortimer"s for the designer Enrico Coveri given by Florence Grinda. And Barbara and her Polish boyfriend were having a fight that I was in the middle of. Everything he said she contradicted. And I don"t know why. And he"s ended up buying a house out in Connecticut right next to Peter Brant. He plays polo like Peter. He has a good-looking face, like an old fairy would be good-looking like this, and he"s the Joe Allen type-short and stocky with grey-black hair and I think capped teeth. He knows all the right people. And everybody says he bought his t.i.tle, he"s a Polish baron or something.
I had invited Jean Michel as my date and I was next to him, so maybe they thought it was a girl"s name. Richard Gere"s Silvinha moved her seat to sit next to Jean Michel. And Jean Michel gave me all his meat for the dogs, and Silvinha did, too.
I"m watching MTV right now. I don"t know what else you can do to these videos to make them different. They"re all the same. They"re all like sixties underground movies, people running around. Like Stan Brakhage and all those kids used to make.
Tuesday, May 22, 1984 Benjamin called in the morning and we dished on the phone for a while and then he came up. I called the elevator man and told him about a spark I saw but he said the spark"s always there, that it happens all the time. Then, since I had to go to the Doc"s at 3:00 I couldn"t eat because I was going to have tests. But we wandered around and I had a lot of energy because of the vitamins.
Jean Michel came down to the office early. He was reading his big review in the Voice Voice. They called him the most promising artist on the scene. And at least they didn"t mention me and say he shouldn"t be hanging around with me the way the New York Times New York Times thing did. thing did.
I opened up one of the boxes in the back that"s being moved and it had 16mm rolls of film and letters from Ray Johnson the artist and I think my bloodstained clothes from when I was shot.
I realized that the reason Tony Shafrazi hasn"t gotten even one of the artists in his gallery into MOMA is because Tony"s the person who defaced Pica.s.so"s "Guernica." But that"s not fair. Keith Haring isn"t at MOMA. And they just have one one thing of mine, the little Marilyn. I just hate that. That bothers me. thing of mine, the little Marilyn. I just hate that. That bothers me.
Then in the afternoon I went to Doc c.o.x"s (cab $7) and I protested over the thermometer that they used, because it just sits there in water and everybody uses it, it"s not right. And Rosemary took my blood pressure, but I have the feeling they just throw these tests out. Bubbles was tan. And they have a new heart machine so now I don"t have to run up and down the stairs in the hallway (laughs) (laughs) to get my heart going-it"s a big improvement. And Freddy won"t take your blood if she doesn"t know you. to get my heart going-it"s a big improvement. And Freddy won"t take your blood if she doesn"t know you.
We went to meet Paige and Benjamin ($4). And after dinner ($120) at Hisae and drinks at Jezebel"s ($30) we went over to Stuart Pivar"s because he was having people over and I wanted to learn about art. I brought a small bronze with me that I just bought, three inches, and Stuart said it was a piece of junk, so tomorrow I"m returning it. I had it on consignment.
And did I tell the Diary that Benjamin and I ran into Virginia Dwan and her daughter who"s married to Anton Perrich who did all those videos and rented our old floor at 33 Union Square West when we moved out. They said Anton was home with his painting machine and I was so jealous. My dream. To have a machine that could paint while you"re away. But they said he had to be there while it painted because (laughs) (laughs) it clogs up. Isn"t that funny? it clogs up. Isn"t that funny?
Wednesday, May 23, 1984 I asked how Robert Hayes was and they said he"s still in the hospital.
Benjamin was supposed to be in drag when he picked me up to go to the Karl Lagerfeld dinner at the Museum of Modern Art, but he wasn"t. We walked right into the elevator with Karl, who was sweet. Wearing lipstick with his ponytail. My dinner partner was Fran Lebowitz. She was fun. She doesn"t drink or eat dessert. She smokes constantly, though. She"s moving out of that apartment in the Village. I guess she lost the case. She sublet it and had Jed do all that work but she never had any signed agreement with the person. And I think Jed really warned her but she didn"t listen. So now she"s moving up to the Osborne across from Carnegie Hall. She was wearing black tie but without the tie.
I put a lamb chop in a napkin for the dogs and got blood on my pocket. Dinner was over at 10:30.
Then Jean Michel was waiting down at Odeon (phone $.90, cab $10). And the Fischl guy came over and said that as he was leaving the house, he had the TV show College Bowl Championships College Bowl Championships on, and I was the answer to a question and that the girl from the University of Minnesota got it in a second. It was, "Who painted Marilyn Monroe?" And I saw the d.y.k.e from on, and I was the answer to a question and that the girl from the University of Minnesota got it in a second. It was, "Who painted Marilyn Monroe?" And I saw the d.y.k.e from Artforum Artforum who made me do all that free work-doing an original Dollar Sign, and then in the same issue she let some guy write the worst review of me that"s ever been in the magazine. who made me do all that free work-doing an original Dollar Sign, and then in the same issue she let some guy write the worst review of me that"s ever been in the magazine.
Then we went over to Area and the theme was "Red." And Jean Michel"s girlfriend Suzanne was there, the tiny makeup artist. And Shawn Hausman, one of the owners-he"s Diane Varsi"s son-was on a ladder, I thought it was part of the exhibit but he was fixing a fuse. Shawn told me that Eric Goode told him that he"s so awed when he sees me that he gets gooseb.u.mps.
And Fred"s been going out with Joan Collins who I guess is having a fling with Mick Flick. I guess that"s how these girls get their baubles-as thank-yous after a big night.
Thursday, May 24, 1984 Jay and the crew were moving. I opened a Time Capsule and every time I do it"s a mistake, because I drag it back and start looking through it. Like I found some film fragments in one and then you just wonder where the rest of the film is. The Whitney now has my old movies. I finally gave them to them-Vincent did. But they can"t do anything with them without my permission. They"re just looking through them now and cleaning them.
Jean Michel came by and he was in a pretty good mood. We had Chinese take-out food. He was painting some big black screaming people. Worked till 7:00. Jill Fuller picked me up outside in a limo and we went to see the Pink Floyd guy perform at the Beacon Theater.
And then afterwards there was a dinner that Lorne Michaels was giving at Cafe Luxembourg, so we went over there. Henry Geldzahler and Clemente were there and I felt bad because Jean Michel and I are doing the combined canvases now without him and they"re coming out so good, whereas the ones we were doing with him, Bruno gave us so little for. But maybe we"ll give Clemente some of our rejects and see if he can do anything with them. He"s really sweet.
And Steve Martin came! That was exciting. He"s so good-looking. I thought that he was going with Bernadette Peters but he was with this new girl and I didn"t know who she was. He has such a good body, and he"s really attractive. Someone started to introduce us and he said no, that we"d met already, that they didn"t have to. He told me he"d had a Marlon Brando of mine for two days but then had to return it because it didn"t go with his place, it didn"t fit. The Jane Bonham Carter girl was there and she happened to call the girl with him "Vicky" and then it clicked who she was! It was Vicky Vanini, who used to be married to Peppo Vanini, and now she"s the actress Victoria Tennant! And here I"d been looking at her across the table and not recognizing her for an hour. No wonder people think I"m on drugs. So then we began to blab and that was fun.
Friday, May 25, 1984 I called and screamed about that picture of Jean Michel in the Dolly Parton issue because it was so awful-cut in that arty way. And when I screamed Gael said Fred had done it, so I called and screamed at Fred and he said it was something that he"d done especially personally.
Robert Hayes is still in the hospital. John Reinhold called him but Robert"s mother wouldn"t let John talk to him. He still had a temperature. His family"s been here for one and a half months. The hospital bill is going to be so big. I guess Blue Cross pays for 80 percent, but still. It must be like $500 a day.