POP ART-

WHAT IS IT?
v
POP ART IS AN ART MOVEMENT THAT EMERGED IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND THE
UNITED STATES DURING THE MID- TO LATE-1950S AMIDST A POSTWAR SOCIO-POLITICAL
CLIMATE WHERE ARTISTS TURNED TOWARD CELEBRATING COMMON PLACE OBJECTS
AND ELEVATING THE EVERYDAY TO THE LEVEL OF FINE ART.
THE MOVEMENT PRESENTED A CHALLENGE TO TRADITIONS OF FINE ART
BY INCLUDING IMAGERY FROM POPULAR AND MASS CULTURE, SUCH
AS ADVERTISING, COMIC BOOKS AND MUNDANE MASS-PRODUCED OBJECTS.
ONE OF ITS AIMS IS TO USE IMAGES OF POPULAR CULTURE IN ART,
EMPHASIZING THE BANAL OR KITSCHY ELEMENTS OF ANY CULTURE, MOST OFTEN
THROUGH THE USE OF IRONY.
IN OTHER WORDS, THE POP ART MOVEMENT AIMED TO SOLIDIFY THE IDEA THAT ART
CAN DRAW FROM ANY SOURCE, AND THERE IS NO HIERARCHY OF CULTURE TO DISRUPT
THIS.
POP ART IS EASILY RECOGNIZABLE DUE TO ITS VIBRANCY AND UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS
THAT ARE PRESENT IN MANY OF THE MOST ICONIC WORKS OF THE MOVEMENT. THE
DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS OF POP ART ARE:
• RECOGNIZABLE IMAGERY, SUCH AS POPULAR MEDIA, COMMERCIAL ITEMS, BRANDS,
PHOTOS OF CELEBRITIES AND OTHER POPULAR ITEMS ARE INCORPORATED INTO POP
ART WORKS
• BRIGHT, VIBRANT COLORS. RED, BLUE AND YELLOW BEING THE MOST USED OF THEM
IN MOST WORKS
• IRONY AND SATIRE, BEING ONE OF THE MAIN COMPONENTS OF POP ART, USED BY
ARTISTS TO MAKE FUN OF CURRENT EVENTS AND CHALLENGE THE STATUS QUO
• INNOVATIVE TECHNIQUES, SUCH AS PRINTMAKING PROCESSES, LITHOGRAPHY, MIXED
MEDIA AND COLLAGE WERE USED BY MANY ARTISTS IN THEIR WORKS
IT IS ALSO ASSOCIATED WITH THE ARTISTS' USE OF MECHANICAL
MEANS OF REPRODUCTION OR RENDERING TECHNIQUES. IN POP ART, MATERIAL
IS SOMETIMES VISUALLY REMOVED FROM ITS KNOWN CONTEXT, ISOLATED,
OR COMBINED WITH UNRELATED MATERIAL.

POP ART'S REFRESHING REINTRODUCTION OF IDENTIFIABLE IMAGERY, DRAWN

FROM MEDIA AND POPULAR CULTURE, WAS A MAJOR SHIFT FOR THE DIRECTION
OF MODERNISM.
AMERICAN ARTISTS
ANDY WARHOL,
ROY LICHTENSTEIN,
JAMES ROSENQUIST
AND OTHERS WOULD SOON FOLLOW SUIT TO BECOME THE MOST FAMOUS
CHAMPIONS OF THE MOVEMENT IN THEIR OWN REJECTION OF TRADITIONAL
HISTORIC ARTISTIC SUBJECT MATTER IN LIEU OF CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY’S EVER-
PRESENT INFILTRATION OF MASS MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS AND IMAGES THAT
DOMINATED THE VISUAL REALM. PERHAPS OWING TO THE INCORPORATION OF
COMMERCIAL IMAGES, POP ART HAS BECOME ONE OF THE MOST RECOGNIZABLE STYLES
OF MODERN ART.

•
POP ART BY ANDY WARHOL
 "Brillo Box", 1964

"Campbell's Soup", 1962

"Marlin Diptych", 1962
"Michael Jackson", 1984

WARHOL LIKED TO USE BRIGHT COLORS AND SILK SCREENING TECHNIQUES.

HE LIKED USING SCREEN PRINTING TO MASS-PRODUCE ARTWORKS BASED
ON PHOTOGRAPHS OF CELEBRITIES OR COMMON ITEMS.
POP ART BY ROY LICHENSTEIN
 "Whaam!", 1963 "Crying Girl", 1963-1964

"Drowning Girl", 1963

INSPIRED BY THE COMIC STRIP, LICHTENSTEIN

PRODUCED PRECISE COMPOSITIONS THAT
DOCUMENTED WHILE THEY PARODIED,
OFTEN IN A TONGUE-IN-CHEEK MANNER. HIS
"Masterpiece", 1962
WORK WAS INFLUENCED BY POPULAR
ADVERTISING AND THE COMIC BOOK STYLE.
POP ART BY JAMES ROSENQUIST
 "World's Fair Mural", 1964 "Campaign", 1965 "President Elect", 1960

ROSENQUIST'S PIECES WERE UNIQUE IN THE WAY THAT THEY OFTEN

EMPLOYED ELEMENTS OF SURREALISM USING FRAGMENTS OF
ADVERTISEMENTS AND CULTURAL IMAGERY TO EMPHASIZE THE
OVERWHELMING NATURE OF ADS