Dorothy Podber (September 15, 1932 – February 9, 2008) was an American performance artist. Born in

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

to a mother who had tried repeatedly to abort her, and to a father who worked for the

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

mobster

Dutch Schultz Dutch Schultz (born Arthur Simon Flegenheimer; August 6, 1901October 24, 1935) was an American mobster based in New York City in the 1920s and 1930s. He made his fortune in organized crime-related activities, including bootlegging and the n ...

, Podber was later remembered as a disruptive influence by classmates from West Walton High School. A wild child of the

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

art scene in the 1950s and 1960s, she helped to run the Nonagon Gallery, which showed the work of a young

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono (, usually spelled in katakana as ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up in Tokyo and moved to New York ...

and was known for jazz concerts by such performers as

Charles Mingus Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz Double bass, upright bassist, composer, bandleader, pianist, and author. A major proponent of collective Musical improvisation, improvisation, he is considered one of ...

. However, her greatest fame—and notoriety—came from her work as a muse and collaborator with more prominent artists. On one occasion in 1964 she visited

The Factory The Factory was Andy Warhol's art studio in Manhattan, New York City, which had four locations between 1963 and 1987. The Factory became famous for its parties in the 1960s. It was the hip hangout spot for artists, musicians, celebrities, and ...

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

's studio, and put a bullet through a stack of his silk-screen paintings of

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe ( ; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 August 4, 1962) was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "Blonde stereotype#Blonde bombshell, blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex ...

, after which she was banned from the studio. These four paintings were thereafter called '' The Shot Marilyns'', and two are among the most expensive paintings ever sold. Podber revelled in her bad-girl reputation. In an interview in 2006, she said:

I've been bad all my life. Playing dirty tricks on people is my specialty.

When funds were low, she found unorthodox ways of making money, engaging in businesses as diverse as dispatching maids to doctors' offices in an attempt to gain access to their drug cabinets, and running an illegal abortion referral service. She did paperwork for

B'nai Brith B'nai B'rith International ( ; from ) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit Jewish service organization and was formerly a cultural association for German Jewish immigrants to the United States. B'nai B'rith states that it is committed to the sec ...

long enough to pick its safe and use its contents on her own check-counterfeiting machine. Her attitude to these enterprises bordered on indifference. "I never worked much," she reputedly said.''New York Times'' obit on Podber
/ref> She was married three times, and had numerous casual liaisons. Her last husband was Lester Schwartz who had a long-term relationship with actor/director

Julian Beck Julian Beck (May 31, 1925 – September 14, 1985) was an American actor, stage director, poet, and painter. He is best known for co-founding and directing the Living Theatre, as well as his role as Reverend Henry Kane, the malevolent preacher ...

. Schwartz died in 1986. Podber cited bisexuality as something she and Schwartz had in common. One boyfriend was a banker with whom she had sexual intercourse only on the banknote-strewn floor of his firm's vault. She had no children by any of her partners. She died in her Manhattan apartment on February 9, 2008, from natural causes, aged 75.

References

Sources

* Livingstone, Marco (ed.), ''Pop Art: An International Perspective'', The Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1991, * Stokstad, Marilyn, ''Art History'', 1995, Prentice Hall, Inc., and Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, * Vogel, Carol (1998)
''The New York Times'': INSIDE ART; Perhaps Shot, Perhaps Not.
Retrieved January 4, 2008. * Warhol, Andy and Pat Hackett, ''Popism: The Warhol Sixties'', Harcourt Books, 1980, * Watson, Steven, ''Factory Made: Warhol and the Sixties'', Pantheon Books, 2003.

External links

Dorothy Podber obit

{{DEFAULTSORT:Podber, Dorothy 1932 births 2008 deaths American female criminals 20th-century American Jews American performance artists Bisexual women artists American bisexual women American bisexual artists Bisexual Jews Artists from New York City Muses (persons) 21st-century American Jews 20th-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American LGBTQ people