Andy Warhol Memorial Poster

After Andy Warhol died in 1987, I took a blank memorial poster brought back from Italy by artist friends, with PAX (peace) and palm fronds, and filled it in with his name and the dates of his birth and death. I replaced the illustration of praying hands in an oval with Andy's high school yearbook picture, and added a quote from the Bible. The type "ANDY WARHOL" was Xeroxed from the headline of the New York Post that read "ANDY WARHOL DEAD AT 58."

I printed the poster and we had it plastered all over downtown, and several were given to the art critic Diego Cortez. He in turn gave one to Andy's brother. About a year later, I was at the gallery 56 Bleecker and I saw a grave rubbing of Andy's headstone by my friend Scott Covert. My jaw dropped.

It turns out Andy's brother had given the poster to the gravestone maker, who used it as a template for the headstone. It's black marble, the same size as the poster. The gravestone maker removed Andy's picture and added back the praying hands.

So, yes, I inadvertently designed Andy Warhol's gravestone.

Trey Speegle, Warhol Memorial Poster, 22 x 32", offset lithograph, signed and numbered limited edition of 50. $500, unframed.