Christopher Makos, the man who taught Warhol to use his Polaroid: "Andy would be delighted on Instagram"

Everyone who accompanied Andy Warhol in the golden years of Studio 54 assures that New York, or perhaps the world, was never as fun, free and mixed as then.

And since the painter died suddenly in 1987, everyone who moves to the city does so with the feeling that he has arrived late.

Warholian nostalgia seizes their own and others, witnesses and non-witnesses.

Of all except Christopher Makos, the legendary photographer who taught the genius of

to use his legendary Polaroid.

A man who, at 74, is both a time traveler, due to his intact sense of spontaneity and irreverence, and a person deeply passionate about the present.

"Everything is overrated in this life," shoots Makos.

“Andy would have been happy in these times.

He would be on Instagram delighted.

His thing was overexposure, being everywhere, at all parties”.

The photographer who caught the attention of the art scene with his book

in 1977 —where he dedicated himself to capturing the New York punk scene— in his conversation he mixes the legends of that time —from Halston to Liza Minnelli— with Bad Bunny or Nicki Minaj.

When he talks about Spain, he mentions Alaska and Miguel Bosé, but also the Elite series — "all my friends see it" — and one of his actors, Manu Ríos.

He praises TikTok (“everyone shows his body there, and that's always good news,” he says) and confesses that he loves OnlyFans, of which he feels like a predecessor.

"It's what I did in the seventies and eighties," he says.

"It's fantastic.

Traditional prostitution is no longer necessary.

Everyone has found their way to make money from sex in a very correct way.

I would like to know how the prostitutes and prostitutes are surviving these days, they must be suffering a lot ”,

Warhol and Makos take a boat ride in Paris in the 1980s.Christopher Makos

Warhol portrayed by Makos.

Christopher Makos

“Now men have more chest than women.

And the reaction to that is all that Lizzo, Nicki Minaj or Ariana Grande are doing, who don't stop shaking their butts, because it's hard to compete against them", she explains, in a very particular interpretation of gender roles and without fear of say some other barbarity of those that would freeze the press agent of any public figure.

“It takes a lot of energy to lie.

You have to remember, always say the same thing over and over again, keep being dishonest.

When you get older you want to be happy and relaxed, you don't want to live a lie, ”he replies against the prefabricated discourse.

“And I want you to get a groundbreaking headline from this interview, that makes everyone read the story, even if it later has nothing to do with the headline.

sell me

, earn money with me”, he says between laughs.

Self portrait made with a Polaroid camera.

Christopher Makos

Makos's works have passed through the best museums —among them, the Guggenheim in Bilbao and the IVAM in Valencia— and are found in the private collections of celebrities such as Almodóvar and Versace.

Of course, he himself is in charge of dismantling some passages of his own history.

It has always been said of him that he was a student of Man Ray in Paris, where he studied Architecture.

“I spent a weekend with him.

I learned a lot, yes.

We talk a lot.

But I didn't study Architecture there.

I went a lot because I love the vibe.

Does that mean that I studied Architecture there?

When I go to the greengrocer I love to look at the fruit.

Does that make me a farmer?

Maybe yes".

From the time in which he frequented the literary circles of Tennessee Williams, Gore Vidal or Truman Capote, he limited himself to commenting: “I know that beauty is on the inside, but it is better to be handsome than ugly.

I was the blue-eyed, golden-skinned Californian.

Everybody wanted to fuck me and I knew how to handle that well.

Finally, he confirms the legend of his entry into the Warholian universe: "I taught him photography, but Andy taught us all the most important lesson: the art of doing business."

Makos was an outstanding student along with Bob Colacello and Peter Marino and, like them, he continues with the well-oiled artistic and commercial machine.

You just have to take a look at his schedule in the last year.

He has been promoting his latest book,

, still unpublished in Spain, in which the painter acts as an atypical model.

“I found out how naive Andy could be in front of a camera, what kind of person poses like that?!” he exclaims before his face made of wood and his not knowing what to do with his hands.

She has opened exhibitions in places as diverse as Milford, Pennsylvania —Andy

, in which she shared the bill with her husband, the painter Paul Solberg, with whom she has been in an 18-year relationship—, in Los Angeles —at the Fahey/ Klein, titled

— and in Hong Kong —

, about the passage of both through the Asian capital.

His last whereabouts have been the Art Gallery of South Australia in Adelaide, where he has also brought his peculiar oratory and Warholian legends about him.

“I am the son of Warhol University, and you can never forget the university you came from, especially when it gives you such a good education,” says Makos.

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Warhol portrait made by him in the late 1970s.

Christopher Makos

“What if I get tired of Andy Warhol?

Yes and no.

I understand the worldwide fascination with him.

His brand was America: Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, Campbell's soup…and that will never stop working.

That's why there's always something on Andy at all times.

I am the son of that school, Warhol University.

Son of that revolution, so it's my brand too, and you can never forget the university you came from, especially when he gives you such a good education, ”he recalls.

Warhol portrayed by Makos.

Christopher Makos

Makos has also recently entered the imagination of millions of viewers with his participation in Ryan Murphy's documentary series

, for which he also drops some pearls.

“They have focused on why he didn't say he was gay and on the saddest part of him.

Two things: he wasn't so sad, he was having a good time, but, well, they had to find a point of view and Ryan Murphy is the king of gay topics.

He loves gay culture, so he had to bring that up too.

I know he's upset a lot of people, but I don't care.

If it works well and gives us all money, let's do it.

“In any case,” he continues, “I don't like to use the word gay.

It seems to me that it is so old-fashioned… People are sexual.

Everyone would do anything with anyone under the right circumstances and as long as there's no priest watching.

Young people want to identify as gay or bi or trans, or he/she… My generation grew up with the idea that anything was possible.

Once you tag yourself, it looks like you've reached the goal, and that's not what I want.

I want to be him, her… whenever she wants, anytime, anywhere.

We must not forget that, in a capitalist culture, when you define a group, it is usually to make money with it, ”she says.

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