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Jay Johnson (model)

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Jay Johnson (born December 30, 1948) is an American business executive and former model. In 1968, Johnson arrived in New York from California with his twin brother Jed Johnson and they were soon absorbed into artist Andy Warhol's social circle. As a Warhol superstar, Johnson had a successful modeling career and supported projects at The Factory. Johnson became president of Jed Johnson Associates Inc. following his brother's death in 1996, and he created Jed Johnson Home in 2006.

Life and career

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Jay Johnson was born in Alexandria, Minnesota on December 30, 1948. He was the third of six children, born 15 minutes before his fraternal twin brother Jed Johnson.[1] His family moved to Scottsdale, Arizona when he was 10 years old before settling in Fair Oaks, California.[2] His father was a physician and an amateur pilot with his own airport.[2] Johnson and future Playboy model Barbi Benton were Junior high school sweethearts.[2] He graduated from Bella Vista High School in 1967 and briefly attended college.[1][3]

Johnson and his brother Jed left Sacramento, California, in early 1968 with the intention of traveling to Montreal, Canada. However, the conductors at Buffalo, New York threw them off the train because they believed they were draft dodgers, so they took a bus to New York City instead.[4][5][6] They found an apartment in the East Village, Manhattan through a heroin addict, got robbed, and lost all their money.[7] When they went to collect money their mother had sent them through Western Union, they were offered a job as messengers.[6] Soon after, Jed delivered a telegram to artist Andy Warhol's Factory and was offered a job on the spot as a janitor by director Paul Morrissey.[5] Morrissey had promised them parts in the film Lonesome Cowboys (1968), but those plans fell through.[5] Warhol helped the brothers move into an apartment in a safer neighborhood and they were quickly assimilated into his entourage.[6] Jed would become Warhol's live-in boyfriend for 12 years, edited films produced by Warhol and Morrissey, and eventually directed the film Bad (1977).[8]

Johnson dated actress Jane Forth, whom he introduced to Warhol and she became a Warhol superstar.[9] Johnson recalled that when he and Jed first arrived in New York City they "had not yet recognized that they were gay."[5] The Factory photographer Billy Name helped them come to terms with their sexuality.[2] While reflecting on the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots to Surface magazine in 2019, Johnson stated that Stonewall was the first gay bar that he went to, and while working at a nightclub called Arthur's managed by entrepreneur Mickey Deans, Deans tried to rape him.[4] Deans married actress Judy Garland a few months later and Johnson believes there is a correlation between the riots and Garland's death: "He was an awful person and provided Judy with barbiturates and alcohol until she died, which was only a few days before the Stonewall riots. So when the police raided the Stonewall, people were grieving Judy's death—and the raid was the straw that broke the camel’s back … By the time of the riots, I was an out homosexual and enjoying the fruits of the city," Johnson said.[4]

Johnson pursued professional modeling while assisting with projects at the Factory. Johnson posed for renowned photographers such as Cecil Beaton, Richard Avedon, Jack Mitchell, and Francesco Scavullo.[10][11][12] He also modeled jewelry made by Robert Mapplethorpe in 1970.[13][14]

While modeling Paris, Johnson lived in a hotel with Corey Grant Tippin, Patti D'Arbanville, and Donna Jordan.[15] Johnson was also part of fashion illustrator Antonio Lopez's circle.[16][17] In the early 1970s, he became the muse and assistant of fashion designer Giorgio di Sant'Angelo.[18]

In 1971, Johnson appeared in the Off-off-Broadway musical Vain Victory: The Vicissitudes of the Damned, written by fellow Warhol superstar Jackie Curtis, at the La Mama Experimental Theatre Club and the WPA in New York.[19][20]

Johnson was feistier than his soft-spoken twin and considered the "bad boy" of the duo.[18] He struggled with drinking and drug addiction.[7] By 1977, his brother Jed had begun a decorating business. After Johnson went to rehab he worked as a bookkeeper for his brother's company.[7]

In 1996, Johnson's brother Jed was killed as a passenger aboard TWA Flight 800 when the plane exploded off the coast of Long Island, New York.[21] Johnson took over Jed's decorating business Jed Johnson & Associates. In 1997, Johnson nominated Jed's protégé Arthur Dunnam as design director.[22] The company's name was changed to Jed Johnson Associates and later to Arthur Dunnam for Jed Johnson Studio.[23]

In 2006, Johnson created Jed Johnson Home and continues to produce fabrics and furniture for the collection.[22] His longtime partner Tom Cashin is the co-director.[24] They reside in New York City and Brookhaven Hamlet, New York.[25]

In 2022, Johnson appeared in the Netflix docuseries The Andy Warhol Diaries.[26][27]

References

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  1. ^ a b Bojorquez, Jennifer (1996-12-17). "Treasured Moments". The Sacramento Bee. pp. E1, E5. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
  2. ^ a b c d Callahan, Temo (2005). Jed Johnson: Opulent Restraint, Interiors. New York: Rizzoli. ISBN 978-0-8478-2714-5.
  3. ^ Brown, Mareva (July 19, 1996). "Mom's Tragic Instinct: Son was Aboard Plane". The Sacramento Bee: A1, A14.
  4. ^ a b c Samaha, Barry (2019-06-27). "Stonewall Riots: Artists Reflect on its Impact". SURFACE. Retrieved 2024-04-29.
  5. ^ a b c d Gopnik, Blake (2020). Warhol. Internet Archive. New York: Ecco. pp. 646–647. ISBN 978-0-06-229839-3.
  6. ^ a b c Nevins, Jake (2023-05-10). "Jay Johnson Remembers the Quiet Luxury and Kindness of His Brother Jed". Interview Magazine. Retrieved 2024-03-16.
  7. ^ a b c Hamilton, William L. (November 10, 2005). "The Surviving Twin, Rearranging the Furniture". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
  8. ^ Macias, Ernesto (2022-03-21). "Meet Jed Johnson, the Man Who Stole Andy Warhol's Heart". Interview Magazine. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
  9. ^ "Jane Forth, Teenage Model & Warhol Superstar". 2015-09-20. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
  10. ^ Gefter, Philip (October 16, 2020). "Richard Avedon's Wall-Size Ambitions". The New York Times.
  11. ^ "Francesco Scavullo (American, 1921-2004). Jay and Jed Johnson, | Lot #38121". Heritage Auctions. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
  12. ^ "Jay and Jed Johnson - 1970 - Jack Mitchell Archives". jackmitchell.com. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
  13. ^ Davidson, Annabel (August 16, 2021). "How the bad boy of Seventies photography nurtured a talent for jewellery". The Telegraph.
  14. ^ Terpak, Frances; Brunnick, Michelle (2016-03-15). Robert Mapplethorpe: The Archive. Getty Publications. p. 101. ISBN 978-1-60606-470-2.
  15. ^ Kaiser, Alfons (2022-02-08). Karl Lagerfeld: A Life in Fashion. Abrams. ISBN 978-1-64700-430-9.
  16. ^ Trebay, Guy (2012-08-29). "Drawn to His Shining Light". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-07-04.
  17. ^ Padilha, Roger (2012). Antonio Lopez: Fashion, Art, Sex & Disco. Internet Archive. New York: Rizzoli. p. 126. ISBN 978-0-8478-3792-2.
  18. ^ a b Colacello, Bob (1990). Holy terror : Andy Warhol close up. New York, NY : HarperCollins. pp. 74, 147–148. ISBN 978-0-06-016419-5.
  19. ^ "Vain Victory, The Vicissitudes Of The Damned (1971)". La Mama. Retrieved 2024-08-08.
  20. ^ Lewis, Emory (1971-09-03). "Vulgarity is Victorious". The Record. pp. B-25. Retrieved 2024-08-08.
  21. ^ Goldberger, Paul (July 25, 1996). "Jed Johnson: Grace interrupted". New York Times. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
  22. ^ a b Kellogg, Craig (2017-07-27). "The Designer Who Started As a Janitor for Andy Warhol". Architectural Digest. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
  23. ^ Kellogg, Craig (July 27, 2017). "Arthur Dunnam Carries Jed Johnson Associates into a New Era".
  24. ^ "Jay Johnson and Tom Cashin". Jed Johnson Home. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
  25. ^ Slesin, Suzanne (2016-12-07). "Andy Warhol Paintings Transform this Eclectic Long Island Home". Galerie. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
  26. ^ Laneri, Raquel; Gostin, Nicki (March 9, 2022). "The Andy Warhol Diaries' reveals artist's secret love life after being shot". New York Post.
  27. ^ "'The Andy Warhol Diaries' explores how the iconic artist was shaped by his great loves". NBC News. 2022-03-10. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
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