By Vanessa Denis
Kanye West certainly considers himself an artist, and on his various websites and blogs, he's turned himself into a curator of the arts he hasn't tried to master himself. But today we're going to stroke his ego a little more and present a thesis even Yeezy hasn't presented (as far as we know, anyway): Kanye West is the Andy Warhol of his time.
The superstar artist of the '60s, '70s and '80s, Andy Warhol was best known for the way he took pop-culture celebrities and advertisements and repackaged them into art. He became famous for this with his silk-screened Campbell's Soup series and the portraits of famous figures such as Queen Elizabeth, Marilyn Monroe and Mick Jagger. Warhol took something basic as a logo or the familiar face of an actress and presented it repeatedly in vibrant colors on a large canvas. His work shocked and fascinated many during the early '60s.
For his part, West has been sort of repackaging his music in his recent live performances, which have placed extra emphasis on visual impact. For the debut of "Runaway" at the 2010 VMAs, Kanye rapped and played his music accompanied by a few ballerinas against a stark, all-white backdrop. In contrast to the usual, sexually suggestive backup dancers, Kanye and his classical dancers provided for a futuristic experience merging rap and ballet.
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