The Pop Art movement, centralised in the United States during the 1950s-60s, was a stage in the post modernism era in which the line between low art and high art was blurred and art was more accessible to the general public (Gambino, 2011). Andy Warhol was an iconic artist during the pop art movement alongside artists like Rauschenberg and Lichtenstein. “Campbell’s Soup Cans” (1962) and “Marilyn Diptych” (1962) depict icons from two different contexts and illustrate the theme of over consumption in post war United States. This essay argues that Warhol’s art documented the age in which he lived in. Specifically, these two works creates parallel between the commoditisation of a product and a person. The pop art movement is reflective of the societal …show more content…
During his childhood he suffered from Chorea, a rare neurological disease which caused various physiological dysfunctions (Ho, n.d.), leaving him bedridden, he would spend time drawing, listening to the radio, and surrounding himself with pictures of celebrities. This period in his life heavily influenced his personality and interests which developed further into his career in art (Mackin, 2010).
Andy Warhol began his career after studying commercial art at the School of Fine Arts in Pittsburgh where he illustrated for advertisements and magazines, moving onto designing album covers before moving to New York in the 1949 and building up his reputation as an artist.
By 1962, he had built up a network of people around him, becoming more involved in celebrity culture and founding ‘The Factory’ where he and a multitude of artists, writers, and celebrities gathered and worked (The European Graduate School, n.d.). By the time of his death in 1987, February 22, Warhol’s reputation was remarkable, and was the focus of an eleven page article in the New York Magazine. He was and continues to be an icon of the era and was described as creating “art that defines the glossy superficiality, manic denial of feelings and process, and underlying violence of the sixties” (Kornbluth, 1987). Warhol surpassed his infamous quote “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for fifteen minutes” and continues to capture the interest of people almost thirty years
History plays a very important role in the development of art and architecture. Over time people, events, and religion, have contributed to the evolution of art. Christianity has become a very common and well established religion, however, in the past it was hidden and a few people would worship this religion secretly. Gradually, Christianity became a growing religion and it attracted many converts from different social statuses. Christian art was highly influenced by the Greco-Romans, but it was immensely impacted by the establishment of the Edict of Milan in the year 313 AD. The Edict of Milan was so significant that scholars divide Christian art into two time periods, time before and after the Edict of Milan of 313.
Andy Warhol was a graphic artist, painter, and film maker, amoung other things, also associated with Pop Art. He moved to New York, around 1950, where he did his first advertisements as a comercial artist and, later, began showing in expositions. One technique employed by Warhol involved repeditive silk screen prints on canvas. He used this method to produce many series of prints with various, easily reconizable images. Between 1962 and 1964 in his self titled studio “The Factory”(Phaidon 484), Warhol produced over two thousand pictures. One of these, Lavender Disaster, was made in 1963 and belonged to a series of pictures all including the same image of an electric chair.
...he era of postmodernism altered the face of art, taking it away from both the religious and ritual context it was originally made for. Warhol was able to create a sense of value in his art by linking illusion of scarcity and inimitability of brand names and branded famous faces to pop art. Through works such as “Silver Liz as Cleopatra,” Warhol had single handedly gave new meaning to art by exploiting a recognized figure of mass culture for the consumption of society. To be specific, the value in “Silver Liz as Cleopatra” is embedded in its mass production and the authentic and genuine appeal of a media icon. Warhol’s take on Elizabeth Taylor defines the transformation in art history that Walter Benjamin alludes to. The value of “Silver Liz as Cleopatra” is not based on its abidance of tradition, but based on its mass production in pop culture, and iconic existence.
Known for being the father of Pop Art, and a giant in pop culture, Warhol dominated the art scene from the late fifties up until his untimely death in 1987. However Warhol’s influence spread further then the art world, he also was a major player in the LGBT, avant-garde and experimental cinema movements. Born in 1928 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Slovakian immigrant parents, Warhol came from humble beginnings. Becoming widely known for debuting the concept of ‘pop art’ in 1962. Warhol’s reach grew further when he started experimenting with film, becoming a major player in the LGBT, avant-garde and experimental cinema movements. Warhol’s artist studio, known famously as ‘The Factory’ became a hub for experimentation, and a go-to point for celebrities, musicians and trans folk. During this time, Warhol came out as an openly gay man, challenging the status quo of the day, a time when being homosexual was illegal. While also producing highly experiential films such as ‘Blow Job’ (1964) and ‘Sleep’ (1964) which were highly political and provocative, at the time. As art critic Dave Hickey asserts, “Art has political consequences, which is to say, it reorganized society and creates constituencies of people around it” (Hickey, 2007), Andy Warhol’s art and lived experience created a political constituency which can be best recognised in the function of the “Silver Factory” on
Warhol, Andy, and Pat Hackett. POPism: the Warhol '60s. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1990. Print.
Andy Warhol and Frida Kahlo had an immense amount of impact on the world of art. Warhol has always explored the rooted connection between celebrity culture and artistic expression, which left him with a lasting legacy that has marked him for one of the most famous artists to have existed. The population was fascinated by Warhol’s ability to blur the lines between fine art and innovative design, providing him a large following and work that will be remembered for decades. Kahlo too is a name that is not likely to be forgotten. Her work is recognizable on a global level and her works are loved by many people. The deep admiration her followers have given her, and the amount of modern artists that she has influenced, creates an immortalization
The 60’s was Warhol’s big boom in production and fame. In 1962, Warhol “debuted the concept of ‘pop-art’” (biography.com). Here is where he did his famous pieces like the Campbell’s Soup cans and the Elvis prints. Most of his muse was commercial products at this point. He could make art out of anything. For example, the soup cans or the Brillo box. In 1961, Warhol made a piece inspired by Coca-Cola, which became a “pivotal piece in his career” (warhol.org). In 1962, Warhol made created his pieces he’s most famous for; his silkscreen photographic portraits of celebrities. He made art of celebrities like Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor. In this year, Warhol opened a solo pop-art exhibit in Los
“Don't pay any attention to what they write about you. Just measure it in inches.” – Andy Warhol. Following these words, one of the best known artists of America pursued his dreams and lived his life the way he intended. Andy Warhol born an outsider used his talents to create works of art that moved society in every way possible. His adventures to New York sparked new ideas which contributed to his popularity. Becoming well-known with other celebrities was a huge achievement for Andy. The catalyst of the Pop Art movement and founder of Interview magazine, Andy Warhol, changed the world’s views on art forever.
Now, twenty-three years after Warhol’s death, his face and art are on T-shirts, iPods, blue jeans, sunglasses, Christmas cards, handbags, skateboards and wallpaper. His reputation and popularity are both endless and his works of art continue to fetch enormous sums of money. Even with his death, Warhol’s name continues to be met with both publicity and infamy. Ultimately, Andy Warhol’s legacy lies with his outlandish and exotic style of art and his lust for materialism and wealth.
The twentieth century has witnessed many transformations in the ways we produce and respond to works of art. It has seen the rise of altogether new media, approaches, and a wealth of new interpretative frameworks. The emergence of manufactured goods, modernism, and a ubiquitous mass culture contribute to the upheaval, in the 1960’s and 70’s, of established art practices and approaches. Pop Art emerges as an important response to, extension of, or parody of what Clement Greenberg called “Ersatz culture” and “kitsch”, which, to paraphrase Greenberg, represent the omnipresent abominations of commercial and replicated art (Greenberg 9). This essay will observe and discuss the interaction of Canadian pop culture, art, and identity in Joyce Wieland’s “O Canada (Animation)”, and will underline how works of Pop Art serve to elevate kitsch into “a new state of aesthetic dignity” (Eco 228).
Defendant Andrew Warhol (“Defendant”) is an artist at the forefront of the “pop art” movement. (Arnason Aff.¶ 6.) Defendant stands for the pop art movement in the public imagination, through his painting, objects, underground movies, and personal life. (Id.¶ 7.) Defendant uses the silkscreen process for mechanical repetition to further his message of mass- produced consumer goods and mass communication in our society. (Id. ¶¶ 12-13.) Defendant uses alternating images of celebrities (Marilyn Monroe, and Elvis Presley) to show that our society turns cultural icons into consumer goods. (Id. ¶ 13) Conversely, mass-produced consumer-goods are at the very heart of the consumer economy that is the American way of life, and are elevated to the status
theartstroy.org. 2013. The web. 22 November 2013. Warhol, Andy.
...e fulfilled with manufactured goods created by capitalism. This thought can be an extension and progression of Benjamin, who argues that art subjects the working class to conformity because, as consumers, they enjoy simple capitalistic distractions. Though something that is never mentioned by Horkheimer and Adorno is a form of art being taken back from the dominant ideology as a form of protest against the upper class. Benjamin uses the example of Dadaism and a type of “anti-art” movement. He believes that art can cause a shock to the individual that would not be an ideological distraction. Benjamin argues that art does not need to follow an ideological format but certain people, like Dadaism, can create to promote thinking and not passivity. In contrast Horkheimer and Adorno argue that the culture industry creates to feed the masses the ideology of the upper class.
In 1792 he suffered from a serious illness which left him permanently deaf. This began to make him feel alienated and separated from everyone else, provoking him to paint the darkness and weakness of mankind. He began to paint his own version of caricatures, showing the subjects as he saw them.
Campbell's Soup Cans work suggests a mechanical uniformity that is repeated in the thousands of homes that have a similar object, a banal and common representation of the spirit of our time. Warhol continued to express his ideas about consumerism and kept using repetition in his work. He created several works that involved the same theme of Campbell’s Soup Cans throughout the years.