Author: Charlotte Bearn

Spotlight On: Pop Art

With a new retrospective of work by Roy Lichtenstein opening at the Tate Modern this month we thought we would take a look at the Pop Art movement of which he was such an integral part.

Pop Art developed simultaneously but independently in both the US and the UK in the mid 1950s and reached its peak in the 1960s. It was a revolt against prevailing orthodoxies in art and life and can be seen as one of the first manifestations of Postmodernism. The main feature of both UK and US Pop Art was its source of inspiration in ‘low art’ such as popular and commercial culture.

Campbell's Soup Can, 1965 (Pink And Red) By Andy Warhol

Campbell's Soup Can, 1965 (Pink And Red) By Andy Warhol

Pop Art used popular culture such as advertising, comic books and mundane cultural objects, as both a source material as well as a subject for critique. It reflected and passed comment on the substantial shifts occurring in society towards a more consumer-orientated market. The movement also embraced other aspects of consumer culture such as Warhol’s embracing of mass producing art in his ‘Factory’ using the silkscreen printing process.

Lawrence Alloway art critic first used the term in print in 1958, and conceived of Pop art as the lower end of a popular-art to fine-art continuum, encompassing such forms as advertising, science-fiction illustration and automobile styling.

In the US Pop Art emerged from works originally classified as Neo-Dada, referencing the first use of everyday object is high art by Duchamp in his ready mades. Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg applied techniques from Abstract Expressionist painting to everyday objects they found around them.

Roy Lichtenstein also began as an Abstract Expressionist but in the 1960’s broke with this style and began developing his paintings inspired by comic strips. He wanted to use the mass produced style on a scale not normally seen, to express very deep emotions or concepts. He also used the style to reproduce existing works of ‘high art’ by artists such as Picasso and Monet.

The other big artist in US Pop Art is of course Andy Warhol. Warhol began as a commercial artist and used both everyday objects as well as celebrities and images from the mass media. He further replicated consumer culture in his Factory production methods and he use of multiple productions of the same image.

Other painters working in the USA associated with Pop Art included Jim Dine, Robert Indiana, Mel Ramos, Ed Ruscha, and Wayne Thiebaud.

I Love Vintage By Peter Blake

I Love Vintage By Peter Blake

In the UK Pop Art evolved from a group of artists working and studying at the Royal College of Art and the ICA in London. Peter Blake was one of the first British Pop artists with his student works directly reflecting his love of folk art and popular culture. In the late 1950s he made constructions and collage-based paintings that incorporated postcards, magazine photographs and mass-produced objects. Other early proponents in the UK include Richard Hamilton David Hockney and Eduardo Paolozzi. Hamilton defined Pop in 1957 as: ‘Popular (designed for a mass audience); Transient (short term solution); Expendable (easily forgotten); Low Cost; Mass Produced; Young (aimed at Youth); Witty; Sexy; Gimmicky; Glamorous; and Big Business’.

Pop Art has left a lasting legacy with artists today continuing to use everyday objects in their work and methods such as silkscreen printing in producing their work. Pure Evil even uses the images of Pop Art itself to create new work, such as his Nightmare series paying homage to Andy Warhol’s celebrity portraits. David Spiller uses cartoon characters and the lyrics from popular songs in his works. Both artists use the silkscreen printing method in their works.

pop art

MK-Ultra I

19 x 19cm

Limited Edition of 177

Cherry Drop

35 x 35cm

Limited Edition of 32

Red Stripe Top Misprint

35 x 50cm

Limited Edition of 30

I Just Feel So Alone Amongst the Crowds Art Print by Charlie Haydn Taylor
Exclusive

I Just Feel So Alone Amongst the...

75 x 58.3cm

Limited Edition of 10

Still Life at Dusk Art Print by Charlie Haydn Taylor
Exclusive

Still Life at Dusk

45 x 58cm

Limited Edition of 50

Brigitte Bardot - Powder Blue Diamond Dust

87 x 106cm

Limited Edition of 10

Tape Collection 'Type II' (Pink)

77 x 52.5cm

Limited Edition of 25

Love Heart

35 x 35cm

Limited Edition of 32

George Harrison (Green Stripe)

50 x 70cm

Limited Edition of 5

Pease Pudding Misprint

35 x 50cm

Limited Edition of 30

Toil & Sacrifice

65 x 65cm

Limited Edition of 10

Bugs (Half Tones)

50 x 70cm

Limited Edition of 50

Marilyn Monroe - Platinum

79 x 102 cm

Limited Edition of 30

There One Minute, Gone the Next

75 x 58.3cm

Limited Edition of 10

Ringo Starr (Blue Stripe)

50 x 70cm

Limited Edition of 5

Marilyn Monroe - Magenta Pink

70 x 90cm

Limited Edition of 30

Q - The Dazzle Alphabet

27 x 36 cm

Limited Edition of 100

Paul McCartney (Pink Stripe)

50 x 70cm

Limited Edition of 5

Rich Enough to be Batman - "FAKE"...

16 x 7cm

Limited Edition of 200

Paris - Aquarium

37.1 x 54.5 cm

David Bowie

42 x 59cm

Limited Edition of 175

Barbie Halo Edition A1

59 x 84cm

Limited Edition of 30

John Lennon (Yellow Stripe)

50 x 70cm

Limited Edition of 5