Hello Seeker!
This is THE question about Andy Warhol, so first of all congratulations for rightly and smartly asking it.
Next of all: the answers. Yes, plural. Though I normally resist providing multiple answers to a question, as I find that frustrating, I think the best answers we can arrive at we can find only by surveying a number of the more recognized books on Andy Warhol.
Third, any ideas about films and/or other visual/further media I will leave to others, perhaps for some visual or performance artists out there reading this...? But with the sheer amount of literature on him — I hate to call it “criticism” but maybe that could be one of the apt terms — in my field ((English) we might simply say the writing following him provides how a respected group of people perceive him, with purportedly the more definitive receptions.
Fourth: a word of caution: dissecting or defining any philosophy or “meaning” that an artist has may all too often result in an authorial fallacy, or placing one’s own values into what another creates. This results in skewed perceptions of intent. Likewise the creator of the work can wrongly anticipate how their work speaks partially or at all, and further how it will speak to any given person or persons. I suspect Andy Warhol would laugh at these answers and even mine...and wouldn’t have an answer for us that we could wrap around The Truth.
Finally, with all those caveats I suggest you use the below link. It provides some of the best reception that thinkers gave Warhol over the years. Remember though: context is key. For example, a theatrical artist contemporary of Warhol then might have received Warhol’s art much differently than, say, a graduate student of commercial art in Athens, Lagos, Bangkok, or New York today.
Here is the link, which you may have to copy and paste: https://www.modernamuseet.se/stockholm/en/exhibitions/andy-warhol-other-voices-other-rooms/the-20-most-notable-books-on-a/
