Andy Warhol was born Andrew Warhola in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1928, the son of immigrant parents from Slovakia. In 1945, he entered the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) where he majored in pictorial design. Upon graduation, Warhol moved to New York City where he found steady work as a commercial artist. He worked as an illustrator for several magazines including Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and The New Yorker and did advertising and window displays for retail stores such as Bonwit Teller and I. Miller Shoes. Prophetically, his first commercial assignment was for Glamour magazine for an article titled "Success is a job in New York".   Throughout the 1950's, Warhol enjoyed a successful career as a commercial artist, winning several commendations from the Art Director's Club and the American Institute of Graphic Arts. In these early years, he shortened his name to "Warhol." In 1952, the artist had his first individual show at the Hugo Gallery, exhibiting Fifteen drawings Based on the Writings of Truman Capote. His work was exhibited in several other venues during the 1950's, including his first group show at The Museum of Modern Art in New York City in 1956.   The 1960's were an extremely prolific decade for Warhol. Appropriating images from popular culture, Warhol created many paintings that remain icons of 20th-century contemporary art, such as the Campbell's Soup Cans, and the Death and Disaster paintings, which began with his Marilyn Monroe paintings after her suicide. In addition to painting, Warhol made several 16mm films which have become underground classics such as Chelsea Girls and Empire. In 1968, Valerie Solanis, founder and sole member of SCUM (Society for Cutting Up Men) walked into Warhol's studio, known as the Factory, in Union Square located in New York City, and shot the artist. The attack was nearly fatal.   In 1969, Warhol founded and began publishing Interview magazine, and renewed his focus on painting. Works created in this decade include Mao, Skulls, Hammer and Sickles, Torsos, Shadows, and many commissioned portraits of the rich and famous from Mick Jagger to the Shah of Iran. Warhol also published a book titled The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (from A to B and back again). Firmly established as the preeminent 20th-century American artist and international celebrity, Warhol exhibited his work extensively in museums and galleries around the world.   The artist began the 1980s with the publication of his book POPism: The Warhol '60s and with exhibitions of various series of works such as The last Supper, Rorschach, Camouflage, Self Portrait (Fright Wig) and in return to his great theme of Pop Art, a series called Ad's. He also created two cable television shows, "Andy Warhol's TV" in 1982, and the first talk show on MTV called "Andy Warhol's Fifteen Minutes" in 1986. Warhol also engaged in a series of collaborations with younger artists, including Jean-Michel Basquiat, Francesco Clemente and Keith Haring.   Following routine gall bladder surgery, Andy Warhol died unexpectedly on February 22, 1987. After his burial in Pittsburgh, his friends and associates organized a memorial mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City on April 1, 1987 that was attended by more than 2,000 people.   In 1989, The Museum of Modern Art in New York City had a major retrospective of his works. Later, The Andy Warhol Museum opened in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in May 1994.