Dorothy Podber

This article will address the topic of Dorothy Podber, which has captured the attention of various disciplines and areas of study. Dorothy Podber has aroused the interest of researchers, academics, professionals and the general public due to its relevance and impact today. Throughout this article, different aspects related to Dorothy Podber will be explored, from its history and evolution to its implications in the current context. Different perspectives and approaches will be analyzed to provide a comprehensive and enriching vision of Dorothy Podber, with the purpose of generating greater understanding and promoting informed debate on this topic.

Dorothy Podber
Podber in 2007
Born(1932-08-15)August 15, 1932
New York City, U.S.
DiedFebruary 9, 2008(2008-02-09) (aged 75)
New York City, U.S.
OccupationPerformance artist

Dorothy Podber (September 15, 1932 – February 9, 2008) was an American performance artist.

Born in the Bronx to a mother who had tried repeatedly to abort her, and to a father who worked for the Jewish mobster Dutch Schultz, Podber was later remembered as a disruptive influence by classmates from West Walton High School.[1]

A wild child of the New York City art scene in the 1950s and 1960s, she helped to run the Nonagon Gallery, which showed the work of a young Yoko Ono and was known for jazz concerts by such performers as Charles Mingus. However, her greatest fame—and notoriety—came from her work as a muse and collaborator with more prominent artists. On one occasion in 1964 she visited The Factory, Andy Warhol's studio, and put a bullet through a stack of his silk-screen paintings of Marilyn Monroe, after which she was banned from the studio. These four paintings were thereafter called The Shot Marilyns, and two are among the most expensive paintings ever sold.

Podber revelled in her bad-girl reputation. In an interview in 2006, she said:

I've been bad all my life. Playing dirty tricks on people is my specialty.[2]

When funds were low, she found unorthodox ways of making money, engaging in businesses as diverse as dispatching maids to doctors' offices in an attempt to gain access to their drug cabinets, and running an illegal abortion referral service. She did paperwork for B'nai Brith long enough to pick its safe and use its contents on her own check-counterfeiting machine. Her attitude to these enterprises bordered on indifference. "I never worked much," she reputedly said.[3]

She was married three times, and had numerous casual liaisons. Her last husband was Lester Schwartz who had a long-term relationship with actor/director Julian Beck. Schwartz died in 1986.[3] Podber cited bisexuality as something she and Schwartz had in common.[1] One boyfriend was a banker with whom she had sexual intercourse only on the banknote-strewn floor of his firm's vault. She had no children by any of her partners. She died in her Manhattan apartment on February 9, 2008, from natural causes, aged 75.

References

  1. ^ a b "Dorothy Podber obituary in The Telegraph". Telegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2008-03-05. Retrieved 2013-12-04.
  2. ^ "Dorothy Podber obituary in The Boston Globe". Boston.com. 2008-02-26. Retrieved 2013-12-04.
  3. ^ a b New York Times obit on Podber

Sources