Pop Art And Its Influence On American Culture

When we eat a slice of pizza we tend to wash it down with a bottle of Coke when we 're feeling sick we tend to have some Campbell 's chicken noodle soup when we think of rock 'n ' roll the name Elvis Presley comes to mind and for America 's sweetheart and movie actress there is none other than Marilyn Monroe. These for iconic objects and figures all have one thing in common they have stood the test of time and continue to be a part of American culture. Today I 'm going to talk about one man who took these ideas and started a new movement in the early 1960s it movement coined pop art where everyday recognizable images that have stood the test of time and continue to influence and be a part of American culture. This man goes by the name of Andy Warhol.

Though this Pop Art movement happened in a few other countries other than the United States and Britain; the movement was also reflected in the country, France. Though in France their movement was known as “Nouveau Réalisme, which is the equivalent to the Pop art movement” (The Art Story Foundation ). This movement reflected the Pop art movement both focused on commercial culture, the Nouveau Réalisme and its artists focused more on their “concerned with objects than with painting” (The Art Story Foundation ).Another movement that the pop art movement was link to in a way was its counterpart in Germany known as Capitalist Realism. Though this movement was a “movement that focused on subjects taken from commodity culture and utilized an aesthetic based in the mass media” (The Art Story Foundation ).The artist within this movement wanted to “expose consumerism and superficiality of contemporary capitalist society by using the imagery and aesthetic of popular art and advertising within their work” (The Art Story Foundation ). These two movements were two movement that were linked to the Pop Art movement.

The concept of pop art started to become popular during this time as it was described using simple, bright colors and images to symbolize everyday life.

Pop Art emerged in Britain in the late 50’s and the United States in the early 60’s.(Mamiya 1992) Pop Art is generally known today as a representation of celebrating popular culture and consumerism, however it’s background and origins are far more broad and extensive. There are many factors and influences that lead to the creation of the Pop Art movement such as adjusting to life after World War II, new technological advances that lead to mass cooperate growth, the evolution of Abstract Expressionism and also social issues in the media such as feminism. (Smith 2001; Mamiya 1992) Many of these factors overlap and act as a catalyst in the creation of Neodadaism and eventually Pop Art. (Livingstone 1992) Pop Art does not have a soul distinct style nor just one major influence and this can be proven by looking at key artists of the movement such as Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg and James Rosenquist as well as female Pop artists such as Martha Rosler. (Brauer, Edwards, Finch & Hopps 2001) Exploring these artists and the major influences of their work will break down Pop Art and establish the movement’s purpose as well as its evolution.

The sixties were a time of social and political change in America, and the art world was not left untouched. Early in the decade a new movement focused on popular culture and national icons began to develop. It was aptly named Pop art. "Many critics were alarmed by Pop, uncertain whether it was embracing or parodying popular culture and fearful that it threatened the survival of both modernist art and high culture..." (Stokstad 1101) Pop artists were not the first to make cultural statements with their work, however controversial art always draws criticism and attention. One of the most well known artists of the Pop movement was Andy Warhol, a young commerial illustrator from manhattan. Warhol's use of popular icons and brands as the focus

Pop art is an art movement that emerged in the mid-1950s in Britain and in the late 1950s in the United States. It appreciates popular culture, or also called “material culture.” It does not criticize the consequences of materialism and consumerism; it merely recognizes its universal presence as a accepted fact. Obtaining consumer goods, responding to ingenious advertisements and erecting more effectual forms of mass communication (back then: movies, television, newspapers and magazines) stimulated energy amongst young people. Pop Art celebrated the United Generation of Shopping. It employs aspects of mass culture, such as advertising, comic books and ordinary cultural objects as well as including imagery from

Even in his very early year of life, Andy Warhol knew that he wanted to grow up and be a part of the artistic world. Throughout his life, his dreams and aspirations were focused on creating art. His aspirations were so obvious in fact, that his father was able to recognize his talents and begin saving money for him to receive a college education. This education was relatively rare during the 1940’s, and therefore set him apart from many other artists of the time. Throughout his later life, Warhol was able to represent himself as an artist who did not conform to the norms of society at the time. His creative use of Pop Art is something that is still very relevant even in today’s society.

The Pop Art movement was named as a way to define the new form of popular

From 1963 onwards, Pop-art spread throughout America and, helped by British Pop-artists, established itself on the Continent. The movement's rise was aided by parallel growth in other areas. In economics, via the growth of the world economy in general and the American economy in particular; in science, via the spread of television; in contemporary music, (which itself became known as "Pop") through the miniaturization of radio, increased record production, the appearance of cult groups like The Beatles, and the phenomenon of pychedelia; and lastly through an expanding art market.

In order to discuss pop art I have chosen to examine the work and to some extent lives of Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol who were two of the main forces behind the American movement. I intend to reflect the attitudes of the public and artists in America at this time, while examining the growing popularity of pop art from its rocky, abstract expressionist start in the 1950s through the height of consumer culture in the 60s and 70s to the present day.

The Pop art movement was a movement that begun in Britain and the United States amid the mid-to late 1950s. The movement threw fine art out the window and ushered a new era of art by including symbolism from popular cultures like advertising, comic books and cultural objects. Its principle point is to utilize ideas from well-known art cultures underlining one primary message regularly by the utilization of incongruity. This art movement is considered a reaction to the ideas of abstract expressionism.

Pop-Art rose from the desire of artists to create art that broke from the standard ideas of what art is and what art can be during the mid 1950s-1960s. However, they clung to images that were common to the mass public in order to ensure audiences could relate to works and also find a sense of familiarity with them. Subject matter such as celebrities, advertisements, comic books, e.t.c. was most often found in the movement. Andy Warhol was a key innovator and leader in the Pop Art movement and has since then become an easily recognizable icon of this time. He arguably helped pioneer many of the ideas and themes of Pop Art. In doing so, there was a major shift in subject matter from his early work to his most famous pieces. In the beginning, Warhol’s work was personal and intimate. Over time, his popular pieces became less narrative and began focusing more on what was popular, such as his celebrity screen prints which eventually brought him notoriety. Warhol faced much discrimination in the early years of his work regarding the obviously homoerotic subject matter of his pieces. He detached the artist from the artwork over time because he recognized that his more blatantly homosexual-themed works would never gain traction or earn him respect in the art world. Though they are rarely discussed, Warhol’s early work greatly impacted the themes he tackled in his later years. The censoring of his works such as “Boys Kissing Boys,” “13 Most Wanted Men,” and “Lonesome Cowboys” deterred Warhol from continuing his interest in homosexual subjects in his public works because of the backlash he received from their exhibition and as a result encouraged him to move towards more widely accepted and identifiable subjects such as celebrities and logos.

Pop art is an art movement that began in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. Andy Warhol became one of the first pop artists during this time period. He worked very hard to go from being a poor immigrant to a rich pop artist. He is mainly known for his use of silk screening consumer goods and celebrities. Andy Warhol grew up with a difficult childhood, but despite the rough time he became one of the best pop art artists of all time.

The Pop art movement began in 1952, when a group of artists, architects and critics called “The Independent Group” from London met each other to talk about ideas such as, turning mass culture’s into fine art, the found object (objet trouvé), as well as science and technology. As Britain was still recovering from the severity of their postwar, citizens from there were equivocally looking into American popular culture. That’s how “The Independent Group” became so fascinated into the rich world pop culture and could see a future for it from the British

Pop artists chose a specific theme and style for their work of art, sculptures and prints, they utilized their claim to create a surprizing outline or a design with the same amount of energy and creativity. Also, pop art turned to be more affordable and open to everybody.