Pop
art
High art
versus
Kitsch
The 1960s
-a time of rapid change in all spheres
Widespread use and
appeal of television
1. President Kennedy’s assassination and funeral was probably the first
globally watched television event
2. 1969- televisions reported the first manned voyage on the moon.
3. Television gave voice to the minorities – political and social- which
discovered the power of public demonstrations covered by television-
-Martin Luther- “ I have a dream”
Rock and Roll
1. Stereos first appeared in the mass market spreading Rock and roll. Alarmed
parents correctly recognized that the new music glorified promiscuous sex,
drugs and contributed to what they called “juvenile delinquency” (failure of
children to conform to old norms)
2. Woodstock festival- in New York was attended by 500,000 fans, one of the
largest gatherings of people in history.
3. Drugs entered popular culture thorough Rock stars like Janis Joplin and
through them to their fans. Widespread use of drugs and the newly
introduced birth pills contributed to promiscuous sex.
Mass consumerism
1. The economic boom in United States of America resulted into a culture of
excess and that of use and throw commodities. After almost half a century of
turmoil, the attention was came back to the market and the common people
through an increase in the variety and quantity of goods produced and
consumed.
Positive aspects of these changes was
that it brought new awareness through
experimentation and lowered
inhibitions to try the new.
popular,
transient,
expendable,
low-cost, mass-
produced,
young, witty, sexy,
gimmicky,
glamorous, and Big
Business
It developed in the United
States and Britain as a
response to the wealth of the
post World War II era and the
growing materialism and
consumerism in society.
An attempt to bring art back
into American daily life
Work centered on
consumerism and
materialism, and that rejected
the psychological allusions of
Abstract Expressionism.
Pop Art used common
everyday objects and
commercial imagery and
iconography as subject
matter, and rejected any
distinction between good and
bad taste.
An appreciation of theretofore
unappreciated objects and
images of mass culture and
ordinary commerce
Portraying the deadpan and
banal
baseball
Rock
apple pie
Americana
Coco-cola
American flag
What’s great about this country is
that America started the tradition
where the richest consumers buy
essentially the same things as the
poorest. You can be watching TV
and see Coca-Cola, and you know
that the President drinks Coke, Liz
Taylor drinks Coke, and just think,
you can drink Coke, too.
A Coke is a Coke and no amount of
money can get you a better Coke
than the one the bum on the corner
is drinking.
Dollars
Jasper johns- 3 American flags
Jasper johns- 3 American flags
'I bet you can't paint
as good as that.'
A return to sharp paintwork
and representational art
Techniques of mass
production
Pop Art was also commonly
produced using mass production,
commercial techniques such as
silkscreening and the now
famous "ben-day" dots Roy
Lichtenstein used to simulate
the printing techniques used in
newspaper and magazine
presses.
Mass production techniques not
only to make art of mass-
produced items but to mass
produce the art itself.
drowning girl
In the car
Whaam! (1963).
"In the future everybody will
be world-famous for 15
minutes".
Andy Warhol
Idea of short-term, disposable celebrity
It refers to the fleeting condition of celebrity that attaches to
an object of media attention, then passes to some new
object as soon as the public's attention span is
exhausted.
turned many of his celebrity portraits into paintings where
their wrinkles and defining features were covered with
white makeup so that the highlights of the facial structure
were all that was left.
"Who wants the truth? That's what show business is
for, to prove that it's not what you are that counts, it's
what they think you are." - Andy Warhol
1. Every Warhol started as an image, usually a photograph, that Andy marked
for cutting and screening.
2. Then he would usually give it to his assistants from the Factory with
instructions on color, number, and other variations, so that often he wouldn't
have a physical hand in the production of his works.
3. The viewer of a Warhol show was saturated with the same image until it
gradually lost its meaning. The more times an image was seen the less it
signified, as the viewer became more used to seeing it.
While selecting
Marilyn Monroe's
photo, he chose the
image carefully so
that it is easily
recognizable.
The more
recognizable the
image, the more the
impact, especially
when repeated
Mick Jagger
Panda
Elvis Presely
Elvis Presely
Muhammed Ali
Even with a simple
outline the face of a
popular celebrity
was unmistakable.
Diana
Everyday and the banal
The portraits represented
the 32 different varieties of
soup made by the Campbell
Soup Company.
Warhol represented the
modern era of
commercialization and
indiscriminate sameness
Burger
Soft drums
