WARHOLSTARS.ORG
by Gary Comenas, 2026
Welcome to the world of Warholstars.org. Twenty-five years of research (more than 3,000 files) on Andy Warhol, his films, art and superstars. 100,000+ hits worldwide each month.
to 2025
* * *
BILLY NAME
Billy Name's original website
January 18, 2026: Lawsuits involving the control of the estate of Factory photographer Billy Name have been covered in the art press but I wanted to note the legal battle on this site because it's an important event in the continuing history of Andy Warhol.
Billy Name was, of course, the main 'Factory Fotographer' and the only person in Warhol's circle to have lived at the Factory as his home. He was the person responsible for the silver look of the Factory and Warhol gave him a 35mm camera to document the era. Billy sadly died on July 18, 2016.
Billy Name's publisher and agent Dagon James (who runs Waverly Press), was named as the executor and sole beneficiary in a will made by Billy in 2015. Dagon edited Billy Name : The Silver Age for Reel Art Press and published Billy's work in Lid Magazine. (Anything that Dagon produces is high quality and often becomes collectors' items.) Dagon wasn't just Billy's publisher and agent, he was his friend, having been first introduced to the photographer in the late 1990s.
When Dagon's wife, Anastasia gave birth, they named the baby after Billy by giving him Billy's name as a middle name. (Anastasia, the Director of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, did an excellent interview with the poet Diane di Prima which appears in the (highly recommended) 13 Most Wanted Men exhibition catalogue).
Billy Name's 2015 will succeeded an older one from 2011 which had named the daughter of Billy's (deceased) brother as the executor and beneficiary. The daughter of Billy's deceased brother challenged the 2015 will after Billy's death and lost the case. The Court decided in favour of the 2015 will which named Dagon James as executor and beneficiary.
The woman's brother then tried to raise funds through Go Fund Me for a legal challenge of that decision but was unsuccessful in obtaining the necessary funds. His sister decided to challenge the decision representing herself, and won that case based on legalities. There will be a third case (presumably this year) which should decide the issue once and for all.
I got to know Billy through correspondence over the years of doing this site. One reason I started this site more than twenty-five years ago was to deal with all the contradictory information that was floating around at the time in regard to Andy Warhol, his art and history. I could always depend on Billy to clarify and correct inaccurate information. We became friends through correspondence (it helped that both of us were gay - we spoke the same lingo). Our conversations ranged from Andy Warhol to life in general. He never mentioned any of his relatives to me - never mentioned any visits by them when he was living in the Hudson Valley.
There are a few things that I find puzzling on the Go Fund Me page. The brother of the predeceased brother's daughter doesn't just want money for the legal costs of his sister's case, he notes in the updates that his sister "also hopes to work to change State and Federal laws so that there is: (a) a national registry for POA; (b) a national registry for wills, that would alert if a non family member is named in multiple wills with different people; (c) a national registry for life insurance policies; (d) required medical examination as well as other criteria that would be flagged if a person in medical care changes their will. Currently, a person with dementia can make a new will as long as they know at that exact moment who they are. Yet, the witnesses in our case were people who had never met my Uncle before, and consequently, would not know if he was acting as his normal self. We would like to see criteria added to protect people who are vulnerable."
I don't understand this. Is he discounting his own witnesses' testimonies by saying that they had never met his Uncle (Billy Name) before? Before what? Billy's death? In regard to dementia, it was noted in the original case that there was no diagnosis of dementia and that Billy was not on any dementia drugs.
He also mentions that they want to start a Billy Name museum in Poughkeepsie. On the Go Fund Me page, Carl (the brother of the daughter of Billy's predeceased brother), writes: "Ultimately, it's our desire to win and then create a Billy Name Museum in Poughkeepsie. Our Uncle loved Poughkeepsie and was deeply involved in the local art scene. So, it seems a perfect way to honour him by creating a Billy Name Museum under The Walkway Over the Hudson."
Really? Does Carl know how expensive it is to buy and maintain a single-artist museum, let alone a single-photographer museum? What other single-photographer museums exist? Has he budgeted for the cost of a building, the salaries of the staff, the cost of exhibiting, taking care of the work and estimated the expected footfall?
Dagon James doesn't want to profit financially from Billy Name's legacy, he wants to protect it. And, in my opinion (and I've been researching Andy Warhol for a considerable period), Dagon has the knowledge, skills and experience to protect that legacy.
Amos Poe is Dead
Debbie Harry in Amos Poe's The Blank Generation
January 9, 2026: Underground filmmaker Amos Poe died on December 25, 2025 at his home in New York at the age of 76 of colon cancer according to his (third) wife, the writer Claudia Summers (whose Instagram profile is here.)
Probably his most famous film is The Blank Generation - currently free on You Tube.
The Blank Generation consists of footage filmed in the Lower East Side and at CBGBs of the bands who played at the club.
It was filmed without sound - the sound was added later - music from the bands' demo tapes which wasn't synced to the visuals.
The editing was done in an editing room rented from the Maysles Bros. who made Grey Gardens and Gimme Shelter.
Performers in The Blank Generation include Blondie, Patti Smith, Richard Hell and others.
(Malcolm McLaren, who was in and out of New York during the 1970s borrowed from Richard Hell's persona to create the Sex Pistols. Punk started in New York, not London. McLaren also managed The New York Dolls for a period - more of a glam band than punk. Eric Emerson was part of that scene - he (and The Magic Tramps) supported the Dolls at the Mercer Arts Center's New Year's Eve show in 1972.)
Richard Hell:
The fact is that London punk was copied from New York punk in 1976. English punk was created in that year when Malcolm McLaren tutored his associate in the clothing business, Bernard Rhodes, and the two bands they immediately formed, The Sex Pistols and The Clash, in the styles which Malcolm brought back to England from me (Television) and The New York Dolls (who were already famous there). (punkrocker.org)
Other Amos Poe films include Unmade Beds (featuring Debbie Harry and Duncan Hannah), The Foreigner (featuring filmmaker Eric Mitchell), Rocket Gibralter (featuring Burt Lancaster) and others.
According to the New York Times (Jan. 8, 2026) Poe taught filmmaking for more than twenty years at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and then the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema at Brooklyn College.
Andy Warhol's Studios and Homes
January 8, 2026: I've added to the site a list of Andy Warhol's studios and homes - where he painted some of his most iconic paintings and the properties he owned in New York. Go to: Andy Warhol's Studios and Homes.
Andy Warhol Textiles to be published in March 2026
January 1, 2026: Paul Maréchal who wrote the catalogue raisonné of Andy Warhol's record covers has now written a volume on Warhol's textiles and fashion to be published in March 2026 by Prestel.
From the publisher's blurb:
"From roller-printed cottons and border patterns in the 1950s to screen-printed garments in the ’70s and ’80s, these works reveal the foundations of his Pop aesthetic—serial imagery, commercial motifs, and a playful engagement with surface and form. His designs appeared on T-shirts, handkerchiefs, silk scarves, underwear, and jackets—everyday items he purchased off the rack and transformed through image and repetition..."
More than 200 illustrations, many previously unpublished. Includes projects with fashion designers Stephen Sprouse and Halston.
Andy Warhol Pop Icon in Nottingham opens January 2026
January 1, 2026: The opening reception of Andy Warhol Pop Icon in Nottingham, England takes place January 23, 2026 from 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm. The exhibition runs from January 24, 2026 to April 19, 2026. It includes paintings from the 1980s that were never exhibited during the artist's lifetime.
At: Djanogly Gallery, Lakeside Arts, Nottingham, University Park Nottingham NG7 2RD.
The Warhol Line opens in September 2026 at the Luxembourg Museum in Paris
January 1, 2026: The Warhol Line exhibition runs from September 16, 2026, to January 10, 2027 in Paris. It includes 150 drawings, a small selection of paintings and Andy Warhol ephemera.
Location: Musée du Luxembourg 19, rue de Vaugirard 75006 Paris 6.
* * *
January 1, 2026: Happy New Year!
Sections and essays
Andy Warhol: From Nowhere to Up There
From Abstract Expressionism to Pop
Selected Andy Warhol Exhibitions
Jonas Mekas and the Film-makers' Cinematheque
Update on Rudy Vallée Painting
to 2025
to 2025
to 2024