Andy Warhol's Interview: The Crystal Ball of Pop Culture

Andy Warhol's Interview magazine was perhaps the first publication dedicated to the cult of the celebrity. Rising out of the 1960s tradition of underground newspapers, it was founded in late 1969 by Warhol and continues to be published in the United States. The Gallery's Research Library holds an extensive collection of the title from the 1980s and 1990s.

Music celebrities often appeared on Interview covers. Early issues featured heavily retouched photographic portraits by Richard Bernstein (1939–2002). The New York Times noted that by 'Embellishing photographs with pencils, airbrush and pastels, he gave his subjects an idealized glow that was intensified by the large format of the magazine.'

Black and white photographs accompanied the interior articles. Stephen Heller, a designer at Interview during the 1970s, writes:

Interview gradually shifted from publicity stock to its own photo sessions with the eminences of celebrity and fashion photography – Robert Mapplethorpe, Barry McKinley, Francesco Scavullo, Herb Ritts, Ara Gallant, Peter Beard, Bruce Weber, Berry Berenson Perkins. These and others were given the freedom to create original work. Despite the continued use of yellowing newsprint, these photographs jumped off the page.

Many of Interview magazine's music celebrities and photographers are included in the exhibition Who Shot Rock & Roll, showing on level 1 from 10 November.