Joy

early 1960s

MoMA buys “The American Dream, I”

Alfred H. Barr Jr. acquires the painting The American Dream, I for the Museum of Modern Art; after this the artist’s career takes off.

1962

First solo exhibition in New York

Eleanor Ward’s Stable Gallery hosts his first solo exhibition in New York.

1963

Warhol films “Bob Indiana Etc.”

Andy Warhol makes a portrait of him, the four-minute silent film Bob Indiana Etc., in which Wynn Chamberlain and John Giorno also appear.

1964

Break-up with Kelly and the birth of LOVE

After parting from Ellsworth Kelly, Indiana reworks an earlier, cruder version of the piece (according to the art historian Susan Elizabeth Ryan, in 1964 it was a far more explicit four-letter word beginning with F, its second letter, a U, tilted to the right) into the famous stacked LOVE with its tilted O, and sends the first cards to friends and acquaintances in the art world. Its red, blue and green are thought to nod to Kelly’s colours, and the relationship was not made public until 2013.

1964

Star of Warhol’s film “Eat”

He plays the lead in Andy Warhol’s 45-minute film Eat, in which he eats a mushroom.

1964

Moves to Spring Street and the Bowery

He leaves Coenties Slip for a five-storey building at Spring Street and the Bowery.