Andy Warhol
the lost warhols
Karen Bystedt, published artist, has made history in the definitive biopic WARHOL by Blake Glopnik ( Harper Collins 2020) credited with capturing Andy Warhol in a definitive time in his trajectory as an artist and model. Bystedt like no one else captured a moment in time that set the precedence for her world renowned collection The Lost Warhol’s through her sitting with Andy Warhol. At this sitting, Warhol in an unprecedented move gave the then college student the rights to his image. In Bystedt’s words .. “ I conceptualized turning him into the art.” The Lost Warhols Collection honors the iconic figure by inviting world renowned artist to paint Andy through their lense and respective medium honoring his legacy and influence as THE KING of POP ART.
Karen Bystedt is an internationally acclaimed, highly prolific photographer and mixed media artist currently based in Los Angeles. She has published four photography books including Not Just Another Pretty Face (NAL, 1983), The New Breed (HOLT, 1989), Before They Were Famous (GPG, 1994) and They Dared To Dream (OSLO PROD, 1998). She has photographed film stars and rock and roll icons such as Slash, Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Drew Barrymore Eddie Van Halen, and Jon Bon Jovi. Her work is exhibited in museums across the globe including The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, The Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art in Oslo, and The Armenian Museum of Modern Art., and her images have appeared in dozens of publications including Italian Vogue, Vanity Fair, Connoisseur Magazine, The Peninsula Magazine, Fabrik Magazine, InStyle and People. Her work has exhibited and sold at Art Basel at Scope, Red Dot, Art Houston, LA Art Fair, Art Hamptons, and at Port Authority in NYC. Bystedt is firmly committed to supporting charitable organizations; her work has benefitted amFAR, Amber Lounge benefitting the Special Olympics, and the Venice Family Art Walk. She champions accessibility and brings much of her work to the street—open to unrestricted, unlimited view. Collaboration is a key element of Bystedt’s current artistic approach; over the last four years, she has produced several murals in partnership with streets arts including Cryptik, Nick Flatt, Bisco Smith, Drew Merritt, Ralph Ziman and Moncho 1929 in Los Angeles, as well as Lee Washington and Chris Flore in Houston. In 2017, she produced her own mural Kings and Queens in Harlem, and a collaborative mural with Bradley Theodore in SOHO. In 2018, she wheat-pasted her photographic series, Inclusion, on the streets of downtown LA; she is currently developing an exhibition of the photography collection. Her latest show in April 2018 at The Bruce Lurie Gallery in LA, critically examines contemporary intimacy and romantic, digital communication in the modern era, and features her photography, and neon art, silk screened on Lucite. Bystedt continues to expand her mixed media approach, fusing photography and street art in her work as an individual, whilst forging and supporting artistic communities across the world, discovering and providing platforms for emerging talent, celebrating innovation, eclecticism, and above all—the expression of the self.
Andy Goes Street
Inclusion Series
Before They Were Famous
Graduate of the American University in Paris for photography and literature and a film major at New York University, Bystedt has refined her natural talent with classical artistic training that has developed her keen sense of true talent and an eye for capturing the spirit of her subjects. Having photographed many stars before they were famous such as Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Robert Downey Jr., Sandra Bullock, Jared Leto, Drew Barrymore and more. Bystedt now has four published books including NOT JUST ANOTHER PRETTY FACE (1983), THE NEW BREED (1988), BEFORE THEY WERE FAMOUS (1992), and THEY DARED TO DREAM (2009).
