CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
EN/FR
Search
Menu
Research dossier · Arts & Letters

Bike Boy

1967 film by Andy Warhol

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 9, 2026
Entity authorityQ4907335 ↗
Source-derived summary

Bike Boy is a 1967 American avant garde film directed by Andy Warhol, and was shown, for initial viewings, at the New Andy Warhol Garrick Theatre, at 152 Bleecker Street, Manhattan, New York City. The film has a bit part by Valerie Solanas.

A negative from this film, showing a skull tattoo on Joe Spencer's upper arm, was used as the cover image for the Velvet Underground's second album, White Light/White Heat.

Editorial summary

“Bike Boy” enters the record as 1967 film by Andy Warhol. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Bike, film and Andy can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA useful identification and reception guide that helps separate the work itself from editions, performances, ownership and later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1967—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1967-01-01. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Bike, film and Andy.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Bike Boy” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Bike, film and Andy provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4907335. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1967.

Critical limits

Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Bike Boy”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Bike Boy primary sources, Bike Boy archive and Bike research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Bike Boy”?
  2. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Bike Boy” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.