The Pop Art Movement : An International Phenomenon

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.

Pop art got its name from Lawrence Alloway, who was a British art critic in 1950’s. The name “Pop Art” reflected on the “familiar imagery of the contemporary urban environment” (kleiner, 981). This art form was popular for its bold and simple looks plus its bright and vibrant colors. An example of this type of art is the oil painting done by Andy Warhol, “Marilyn Diptych” (Warhol, Marilyn Diptych) in 1962. The Pop art movement became known in the mid-1950 and continued as main type of art form until the late 1960’s. The Pop art movement, was a movement where medium played a huge part in the society, with it reflecting on advertisements, comic strips and even celebrities, like Marilyn. This movement also has a large

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.

Pop Art is defined as art based on modern popular culture and the mass media, especially as a critical or ironic comment on traditional fine art values. “To Americans, Pop Art was an artistic manifestation which reflected their own culture.” (Elmaleh 1) Many artists or writers will take normal, everyday things in nature, and will turn them into brighter things. This was considered to be a new movement because it was right after the war, so it was a darker time period. Throughout the text, Joe Hill tried to convey many things with his short story about Art using his own culture and what he knew, but I think the most obvious message that he tried to convey is emotion.

The term ``Pop Art'' was first used by the English critic Lawrence Alloway in a 1958 issue of Architectural Digest to describe those paintings that celebrate post-war consumerism, defy the psychology of Abstract Expressionism, and worship the god of materialism. The most famous of the Pop artists, the cult figure Andy Warhol, recreated quasi-photographic paintings of people or everyday objects.

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

Coming to the United States in the early 1950’ and reaching its peak of activity in the 1960’s would be Pop art. This type of art was everywhere, billboards, commercial products, and celebrity images. You see this type of art mostly in comic strips. This type of art celebrates the everydays items that people used. Pop art was the start of a new art movement,

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

Andy Warhol being not simply a Pop artist, but an American artist who was known as the master of Pop Art, and about two of Warhol’s most famous paintings; Coca-Cola and Campbell’s Soup Cans. Andy Warhol was an artist and filmmaker, an initiator for the Pop Art movement in the 1960s. Warhol used mass production techniques to elevate art into the supposed unoriginality of the commercial culture of the United States. Warhol’s early drawings frequently recalls the Anglo-Saxon tradition of nonsense humor, a characteristically childlike exuberance, and the fact that Warhol was successfully earning a living in the advertising industry at the time was sufficient for many to dismiss his entire artistic output during this period as “commercial art”. Fifty years ago, Pop art captured the spirit of Warhol’s young art, but that basic structure has been (to most people) a revealing profitless movement for years. Pop art was a 1960s movement that focused on everyday objects, comic books and mediated images — now seems quaint and playful, but not Warhol. In the first part of Andy Warhol’s career he was an iconoclast, in the second, the artist as businessman. In 1960 Warhol’s graphic works underwent a fundamental change in terms of subject matter, accompanied at about the same time by a change in technique. Warhol’s graphic work covers areas not normally associated with the art of the twentieth century, and which might even be considered unique. In Andy Warhol’s paintings and prints of

As many artists during 1960s rebelled the cultural norms, Pop art reflected the social values of America during 1960s. It focused on the prejudice

Warhol, the son of devout Slovenian Byzantine Catholics, learned art from his mother while he lay bedridden from illness at the age of eight. Movies and photography also appealed to the young artist, who set up a darkroom in the family’s Pennsylvania basement. After graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Art degree, Warhol pursued a career in commercial art. Once in New York, Warhol thrived in the business and earned the title of “the most successful commercial artist of the 1950’s.” (Bio.com) In the early 1960’s, Warhol introduced the Pop Art, which captivated the world with bright colors and common items. Apart from ordinary things, Warhol also painted portraits of celebrities in the same colorful style. Warhol painted popular people and things, hence the name “pop” art. He is most well known for Campbell’s Soup Cans and Marilyn Monroe, both done in the same colorful style. He enveloped himself his own fame and the fame of others, creating artwork that showed the charisma of both the artist and the subject. Later in Warhol’s career, he explored other art forms, creating eccentric movies and even writing books. (Biography.com

Most of his work was seen in many department store windows, where his unique style was based on abstract expressionism. “Abstract Expressionism Art Movement” in the united states was influenced during the post-war. This movement helped American achieve international praise and put New York City on the map, US now becoming the center of the Western World of art. Thus beginning to making “Pop art” in the 1960’s, He started to photograph famous celebrities such as Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn

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.

There were two major art movements during the 1960’s: Pop Art and Minimalism.The two movements are still relevant and influentiantial now in the 21st century. These two art movements do not meet the standard of arts original idea. Pop art represents popular culture, comic books, advertising and television. Pop art movement appeared in the mid 1950’s. It challenged traditional art, it is loud and aggressive, filled with vibrant colors. Once you are familiar with a some Pop art paintings, its unique style is easy to distinguish among the rest. It represented more everyday life than anything. Minimalism and Pop art can be very similar but yet have countless differences that vary from artist to artist. Minimalism isolates the material and blurs out any emotional content and personal expressivity. Minimalism reduces everything to its essential elements. The events that occurred during these movements, such as the Civil rights and the Vietnam War influenced artist to try to challenge other type of art forms and go beyond just “fine art”.