Malanga, Gerard

*20.03.1943 Bronxdale/New York

biography

Gerard Joseph Malanga (born March 20, 1943 in Bronxdale, New York) is an American writer, photographer, and filmmaker. Malanga became known as the first assistant to the pop artist Andy Warhol. In the early 1960s, Warhol ended his career as a commercial artist and turned to free art. To produce his preferred screen prints, he was looking for someone to help him, and in June 1963 he found Malanga, who was a student at Wagner College in Staten Island at the time. Malanga, an enthusiastic poet in the tradition of the Beat Generation, had already published several verses in student magazines. The first picture they produced together was the screen print of Elizabeth Taylor, Silver Liz. In January 1964 they moved into their second studio, which later became world famous as The Factory. Initially his only assistant, but later his most important, he was responsible for Warhol's many famous screen prints (Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, Brillo boxes, etc.). His whip dance with Mary Woronov during Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable multimedia performances to the Velvet Underground song Venus in Furs is unforgettable. Between 1964 and 1966, Malanga assisted Warhol with the so-called Screen Tests, a total of more than 300 short portraits (each a three-minute 16mm film roll), and there are also recordings of Malanga from this series. He himself was often seen in front of Warhol's camera in the early experimental films. In 1964 he had his first role in Kiss, where he acted with Mark Lancaster in keeping with the film's title. He also had roles in Batman Dracula, Couch (both from July 1964) and Vinyl (March 1965), an underground film adaptation of the novel A Clockwork Orange. Malanga also took over some of the camera work in Warhol's place. In 1968, Malanga fell out with Warhol, and the end of the "Silver Factory" also brought an end to his collaboration. Before moving to Union Square, Malanga went on a long trip to Italy, and Warhol was angry about it. As if that wasn't enough, in February it was revealed that Malanga was trying to sell fake "Warhols" in Rome. Years later, Warhol complained in his diary (December 1, 1976, May 6, 1978 and more often) that a whole series of fake "Electric Chairs" and "Flowers" were circulating in American and European galleries. Malanga increasingly distanced himself from Warhol's art factory and concentrated on his own artistic work as a photographer. This resulted in numerous portraits, mostly from rock, literary and underground culture (e.g. Mick Jagger, William S. Burroughs, Patti Smith or Iggy Pop). Malanga now lives and works in New York City.