The Factory

"[2] Due to the mess his work was causing at home, Warhol wanted to find a studio where he could paint.

[3] A friend of his found an old unoccupied firehouse on 159 East 87th Street where Warhol began working in January 1963.

[4] A few months later, Warhol was informed that the building would have to be vacated soon, and in November he found another loft on the fifth floor at 231 East 47th Street in Midtown Manhattan, which would become the first Factory.

Aside from the prints and paintings, Warhol produced shoes, films, sculptures and commissioned work in various genres to brand and sell items with his name.

[1] Billy Name brought in the red couch which became a prominent furnishing at the Factory, finding it on the sidewalk of 47th street during one of his "midnight outings."

The sofa quickly became a favorite place for Factory guests to crash overnight, usually after coming down from speed.

To increase production, he attracted a ménage of adult film performers, drag queens, socialites, drug addicts, musicians, and free-thinkers who became known as the Warhol Superstars, to help him.

[10] He then relocated his studio to the sixth floor of the Decker Building at 33 Union Square West near the corner of East 16th Street, near Max's Kansas City, a club which Warhol and his entourage frequently visited.

[14] In 1969, Warhol co-founded Interview magazine and the Factory transformed "from an all-night party to an all-day office, from hell-on-earth to down-to-earth.

[17][18] It was owned by Maurice Brahms,[19][20][21] a former partner of Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, the original owners of Studio 54, and Jay Levy after Club 54 closed, due to jailing of Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager.

[31][32] After about a decade, the club was reimagined by BlackBook Magazine columnist Steve Lewis & Co. as Le Palace de Beauté, where RuPaul often performed.

[41] Andy Warhol commented on mainstream America through his art while disregarding its conservative social views.

Almost all his work filmed at the Factory featured nudity, graphic sexuality, drug use, same-sex relations and transgender characters in much greater proportion to what was being shown in mainstream cinema.

What was called free love took place in the studio, as sexuality in the 1960s was becoming more open and embraced as a high ideal.

[42][43][44] Holly Woodlawn and Candy Darling were noted transgender women who were part of the Factory group, as was drag queen Jackie Curtis.

You weren't involved..."[45]Warhol started shooting movies in the Factory around 1963, when he began work on Kiss.