Yesterday, Paddle8 launched “Scene: Warhol by Makos,” an online auction of 18 limited-edition photographs available to bid on until July 25. The photos, all taken by renowned photographer Christopher Makos, highlights the downtown New York scene in the 1970s and ‘80s. Alongside images of Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Debbie Harry, and John Lennon, the sale also features five never-before-seen images of Warhol, David Hockney, Keith Harring, and Lou Reed.
“Downtown New York in the ‘70s and ‘80s was dangerous and everything mixed together, fashion, art, music, we were all part of Andy’s scene,” said Makos. “It was all very intimate, and being a photographer is a little like being a psychotherapist, reading people and reflecting back their self-image.”
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Digital pigment print, 1984, $2,000-$2,800.Courtesy of Paddle8.
Known to be an integral part of Warhol’s inner circle, Makos documented the colorful and social scene. Warhol and Makos’ friendship flourished over the photography’s then new point-and-shoot technique, used on many travels and intimate shoots thereafter. The sale is accompanied by an interview between Makos and Vincent Fremont, the former head of Andy Warhol Enterprises Inc., who offered insight into his and Warhol’s 40-year friendship.
As Reed once pointed out, “Chris Makos was actually there. He was part of the revolving and evolving Warhol world. A participant from the inside, not a latecomer from the outside.”
David Hockney, Digital pigment print, 1977, $2,000-$2,800.Courtesy of Paddle8.
