Andy Warhol’s Brain: Creative Intelligence for Survival

To this day, mention the name ＂Andy Warhol＂ to almost anyone and you’ll hear about his famous images of soup cans and Marilyn Monroe. But although Pop Art became synonymous with Warhol’s name and dominated the public’s image of him, his life and work and worldwide influences are infinitely more complex and multi-faceted than that. And Phillip Romero, MD is just the person to explain exactly what that impact was and is and from whence it derives.

In Andy Warhol’s Brain, esteemed psychiatrist Phillip Romero takes on Andy Warhol in all his depth and dimensions. The book is essentially a return to renowned psychiatrist Phillip Romero’s scheduled interview with his friend Warhol that never happened, as it was scheduled for the day after Andy’s untimely death. The book is both homage to Warhol for his inspiring friendship with the author and a platform for Romero to explore his thesis, ＂Art for Survival.＂ Romero here presents the extraordinary results of an agreement between the approaches to a topic of different academic subjects: in this case science and the humanities. It offers a unique and exceptional advance in thinking about artistry and intellect.

Doctor Romero’s work as a family/child psychiatrist led him to formulate the concept of ＂Creative Intelligence,＂ which he defines as the effortful attention of the individual ＂mind＂ to recruit both these attributes to change oneself, to evolve social systems, and to sustain the environment to improve the quality and duration of human life. Romero found himself deep into researching the brain-mind/art-culture continuum of Creative Intelligence, and in doing so, his friend Andy Warhol presented a perfect example of the concept. This book is an effort to integrate the life and art of Andy Warhol with the brain-mind/art-culture system that informs the evolution of human civilization. The struggle between Creative Intelligence and adversity exists within each human being. Romero uses Warhol’s life as a mirror to inspire the reader’s Creative Intelligence in reinventing themselves through the complex and challenging times we live in.

In this groundbreaking work that comes from the unique perspective of a world-class psychiatrist and practicing artist himself, Romero explains that for individuals, creativity protects us from our painful pasts and inspires us to create a better present for a more secure future. Creative Intelligence harnesses our inborn resilience and creativity. It is an ongoing mind-body process of effortful attention: remembering, reflecting, reframing, reimagining, reinventing, and reconnecting with oneself and the world.

Phillip Romero, MD, Child-Family Psychiatrist, is retired Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Medical College-Cornell University, in New York City. He is also a practicing artist, author of five books, and filmmaker. He had an ongoing conversation with Andy Warhol during the last decade of his life about art, child development, and culture. His lifelong research and experience integrate three domains of knowledge, consciousness, creativity, and medicine. He lives in New York City.