Brigid Berlin
Brigid Berlin (also known as
Brigid Polk, born
September 6,
1939) is an artist and former
Warhol superstar.
Brigid was born to socialite parents and a world of Manhattan privilege. Her father was Richard E. Berlin, chairman of the Hearst media empire for 52 years. As a child she regularly mixed with celebrities and the powerful. Her socialite mother, Honey Berlin, frequently worried about Brigid's weight and had
amphetamines prescribed to facilitate weight control.
After several years as a reluctant debutante and a failed marriage, Brigid Berlin met
Andy Warhol in
1964 and quickly became a central member of his entourage. After moving to
Hotel Chelsea, she took on the nickname Brigid Polk because of her habit of giving out 'pokes', injections of
Vitamin B and
amphetamines. These injections were readily available through the many '
Doctor Feelgood's' in New York and perfectly legal.
Berlin appeared in many Andy Warhol films including
The Chelsea Girls in which she famously injects herself while performing a monologue. She also appears in the
Edie Sedgwick film
Ciao! Manhattan and has recently been the subject of a documentary
Pie in the Sky.
Brigid was known for her obsessive taping and photographing of every day life. Selections from these tapes were later compiled to form the play
Andy Warhol's Pork. Other tapes made by her were the basis for
The Velvet Underground's first
live album,
Live at Max's Kansas City (recorded 1970, released 1972).
Berlin was complicit in one of Warhol's most infamous pranks when, in 1969, Warhol announced that all of his paintings were the work of Berlin. Brigid enthusiastically followed this line when interviewed by
Time. The prank led to a drop in the value of Warhol's work and both parties eventually retracted their statements. The question of
authorship looms large in valuing Warhol's paintings to this day.
In 1975, Brigid Berlin began work for Andy Warhol's
Interview magazine, a position that she held until well after Warhol's death.
Brigid Berlin is also famous for her 'Tit Paintings' (1969) (artworks executed using the painter's bare breasts) and
off-Broadway one-woman shows.
Brigid still suffers from
obsessive-compulsive disorder, a theme that she often explores in her artwork.
Chelsea Girls (1966)
Bike Boy (1967)
Nude Restaurant, The (1967)
Imitation of Christ (1967)
Four Stars (1967) aka
24 Hour Movie Loves of Ondine, The (1968)
Women in Revolt (1971)
Ciao! Manhattan (1972)
Andy Warhol's Bad (1977)
Critical Years, The (1987)
Serial Mom (1994)
Pecker (1998)
Pie in the Sky: The Brigid Berlin Story (2000)
