There are very few artists whose legacy and influence are as far-reaching, enduring and profound as Andy Warhol’s.

Widely regarded as a defining figure of the Pop Era, Warhol honed the mastery of enigmatic personal branding as well as elevating day to day objects to iconic status, often drawing from mainstream consumer culture. Best known for his paintings such as the Campbell’s soup cans and silkscreens of Marilyn Monroe, Andy Warhol was an accomplished kingmaker – establishing both people and products as some of the globalized world’s most widely recognisable pop culture references through his artistic work.

A new exhibition titled The Lost Warhols – at At Lib Gallery, London, until 18 June – pays homage to the Pope of Pop Art as a timeless cultural and inspirational figure with a series of works based on photographs of Warhol himself. The photos, taken in 1983 by Karen Bystedt – a mixed-media artist and the curator of the show – were captured in a single session, during her tenure as a student at NYU. Buried and forgotten for decades, the images – or at least some of them – only resurfaced in 2011.

After a lengthy restoration process, Bystedt decided to give her portraits a new life and invited a roster of international artists to re-interpret them from their own artistic perspective. The resulting works, which make up the Lost Warhols series, provide a nuanced and broad ranging tribute to one of the most iconic artists of the Twentieth Century. The exhibition features, among others: Karen Bystedt (Miami); Brayden Bugazzi (LA); Consumer Art (New York); Cavanagh Foyle (Ireland); Carlos Manuel (Cuba); MAXIM (Czech Republic); Nick Munier (Ireland); James Mylne (London); Miguel Paredes (Miami) Will St Leger (Ireland); Louisa Tebbutt (London); and Peter Tunney (New York).

1883 caught up with Karen Bystedt to find out more about the show.

Consumer Art & Karen Bystedt, Flower Soup Bananas

Hello Karen, thank you for agreeing to the interview. How did you get into photography? What first sparked your interest in the medium?

I was originally in film school, and I came to photography through fashion. An agency at the time looked at my work, and advised that I was very good at shooting men and so I started photographing male models. Through NYU film school I got an internship with Fashion Photographer, Marco Glaviano – and it was there that I got the idea to create a book about male models (Not Just Another Pretty Face, published by Nal in 1983, ed.).

Can you tell us how The Lost Warhols project and exhibition came about?

The Lost Warhols came about once I found my negatives of Andy in 2011. I conceptualized making him into the art by collaborating with Fine Artists and Street Artists to create new works of art with Warhol as the focus.

Karen Bystedt

How did you get to know Warhol?

I used to peruse the pages of GQ, and one day in it I saw a Barney’s ad featuring Warhol as a model.
Once I saw Andy in the magazine I knew I wanted to put him in my book and so I called Interview Magazine (the magazine founded by Warhol and John Wilcock in 1969, ed.) and he answered. I had already enrolled many of the top male models to shoot with me, and so he agreed to pose. He styled himself in a Perry Ellis suit, and sported a neat white wig which apparently he rarely wore.

How was it shooting with him? What was he like as a sitter?

When I arrived with my assistant/colleague, Andy was waiting for me in the conference room. He was ready, and because he was excited to be photographed as a model for a book he did several poses for me, including one shot where he picked up a small American flag from the table and held it up.

What did you take away from working with Andy Warhol? Do you think the experience helped shape you into the artist you are today?

I really got to know Andy as a human and an artist after I found my negatives. My journey working with an archival expert to bring the negatives to their most beautiful form and to present these modelling photographs to the world pleased Warhol and I have felt his spirit guiding me. I proceeded to make him into the art by making him the subject and presenting him to new generation of art enthusiasts and collectors. I once spoke to Eric Shiner, the previous director of The Warhol Museum, who invited me to bring my photographs into the permanent collection of the museum and he understood.