Pop Art: Exploring A Few Facts

Posted by joseph george on December 18th, 2020

Pop art actually popped up in the United Kingdom in the mid 1950. It was brought into the real frame by the progressive artists such as Richard Hamilton and Eduardo Paolozzi. This form of art became actually famous in the 60s when artists such as Claes Oldenburg, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, and James Rosenquist made it an international phenomenon with their work inspired by mass culture and everyday objects. Their creations blurred the lines between high-art and low culture.

Pop art promotes popular culture, or material culture; and it is never a critique of consequences of consumerism and materialism. It recognizes their presence as a fact. 

Richard Hamilton, born in 1922 in London, was an art visionary with a deep interest in magazines, television, movies, and modern music. He became successful in depicting the perceptions of artists as a consumer and also perceived them as a contributor to the mass culture. While Warhol became the household name in pop art, Richard Hamilton was the person who actually laid the foundation for pop art. His 1956 collage, ‘Just what is it that makes today’s homes so different, so appealing?’ achieved a truly iconic status.

All pop artists shared a common ground for their art; they chose popular culture as the basic idea behind their work. Talk about the common work by renowned artists of the early era, their work mostly felt like a supermarket shelf. Eduardo Paolozzi and Hamilton had their meticulously layered collage work; Warhol and his work of early Coca-Cola bottles; and Campbell’s soup tins – they were all inspired by consumer behavior. In fact, some of the artists such as James Rosenquist had magazine clippings in colossal collage paintings.

The work spoke a lot about pop culture and had an urban attitude in their work. However, some pop art works were also expressive of social criticism.

American pop art felt a little different, characterized by aggressiveness. It was also emblematic and anonymous. English pop was somewhat expressive of romantic view of the pop culture. English pop artists had popular technology and culture as the fundamental ground for their art work.

Pop art also gained critical acceptance as a form of art that suited to the society that admired technology and mass media. Initially it was not taken seriously by the public, but it became highly recognized by the end of the 20th century. 

Today, pop art by several renowned artists can be found online.

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