45. Pop Art

“In aristocratic societies, rich people used to commission exquisite paintings for their walls. Years later, cheap imitations would filter down to calendars in gas stations. In our democratic society, this works backwards. Here, art begins as the kind of picture you'd find on a matchbook cover. Then expensive imitations of it wind up on the walls of plastic surgeons and Hollywood agents.” – Brad Holland

What was it about? What were the goals?

Pop Art was a tributary to the river of post modernism. The easiest way to understand this movement is as a protest of modernism.

Pop Art has to do with exposing the uglier side of American culture as a way of critique. Artists like Andy Warhol would show images of car crashes, or John F. Kennedy being shot, and print it multiple times on one canvas, as a way of showing how everything in modern society has become a commercialized product, to be reproduced and consumed. Warhol often superimposed images of famous people and pictures with company logos.

Post modern art sought to critique the world, in order to make it better, as a way of shaming, and pop art was no different. Andy Warhol’s greatest contribution to this was to critique our new consumer culture.

 A bit of historical context:

 

 

The underlying philosophy of the period:

How was it represented in the other arts – music, architecture, and literature?

The movement also created a new style for everyday items to make them more artistic, colourful, and extreme. Pop art in fashion and design had to do with spicing up the drab, simple designs of the minimalist movement, which had come before.

Was it great? 

Some leading figures:

Andy Warhol

Roy Lichtenstein

Claes Oldenberg

 

Some of the most famous artworks of the time: