Blurring the edge between art and kitsch, pop artist Andy Warhol introduces consumer culture and celebrity cult into museums with his signature characteristics of imitation, repetition, and contrasting colors (Lazzari and Schlesier 2015, 117). His bold representations of flawed mechanic reproduction and obvious lack of abstraction challenge the definition of art and evoke great debate on the value of his artworks. This essay will examine the significance of repetition produced by silk screen printing in creating instant recognition and meaninglessness that generate valuable cultural records and social commemoration of the modern society. Three of Warhol’s most iconic artworks, Campbell’s Soup Cans, Marilyn Monroe, and Jackie will be discussed …show more content…
We see the prints and recognize the subject, and it seems that there is nothing more behind the identical repetition and accurate imitation. However, the concept and effects of repetition have more implied than mere mimicry. Because the image of the soup cans is repeated multiple times, it diminishes the purpose of the object and its advertising message. In other words, the repetition takes away our focus from the function of this product, the packaging design, and the brand image; instead, the bright red soup cans appear unvaried in large quantities that creates an overwhelming visual impact very much resembles the inexhaustible supply of consumer products seen in stores. Such effect of repetition in diminishing product’s purpose creates a sense of endlessness but also emptiness. As Warhol commented on why he chose this subject, he answered, “I wanted to paint nothing. I was looking for something that was the essence of nothing, and the soup can was it” (Bockris 2009, 154). In fact, it is exactly this “nothingness” that speaks more about the reality of today’s consumer culture ⎯ an emptiness resulted from our forever unsatisfied material desire, regardless of how much one has consumed (Lazzari and Schlesier 2015, 63, 117-8). The nothingness projected from the visually heavy painting reflects the sense of emptiness prevalent in modern people’s minds as a consequence of consumer
Some studies say that the use of repeating a statement causes you to perceive it as being more truthful. So as Nabisco was trying to gain Ethos, the credibility of a company, they repeated the key parts of their product. By doing this the consumers remembers the statement and they are more likely to remember it and believe that companies products are the best. Using the words “Cookie” and “Cream” repetitively kept Oreos in the mind of the viewer. The commercial causes its viewers to think which they like better, the cookie or the
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.
The earliest forms of art had made it’s mark in history for being an influential and unique representation of various cultures and religions as well as playing a fundamental role in society. However, with the new era of postmodernism, art slowly deviated away from both the religious context it was originally created in, and apart from serving as a ritual function. Walter Benjamin, a German literary critic and philosopher during the 1900’s, strongly believed that the mass production of pieces has freed art from the boundaries of tradition, “For the first time in world history, mechanical reproduction emancipates the work of art from its parasitical dependance on ritual” (Benjamin 1992). This particular excerpt has a direct correlation with the work of Andy Warhol, specifically “Silver Liz as Cleopatra.” Andy Warhol’s rendition of Elizabeth Taylor are prime examples of the shift in art history that Benjamin refers to as the value of this particular piece is based upon its mass production, and appropriation of iconic images and people.
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. The Philosophy of Andy Warhol: (from A to B and Back Again). Orlando: Harcourt, 2006. Print.
In an interview the artist proposed that the “great [thing] about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest” (Andy Warhol). With his artwork he reached out to millions. The best example of consumerism is the painting 100 Cans in 1962 seen on the left hand side. Even though the painting is by far not as famous as the Marilyn Monroe prints, it played a major role for Campbell soup sales. According to the Albright- Knox Art Gallery, Warhol designed a can that would be more attractive to the Pop Culture . By using different design elements he invited the user or buyer into purchasing the Campbell soup over other soup products. Through the use of elements such as space and and value, the painting appears to be a 3D image. Bright colors catch the consumers/ observer eyes and invites one into the image. The top part of the cans show texture and the different colors on the can itself create balance. Lines make up the shape of a cylinder and the fact that items shapes and colors come up repetitively, displays repetition. All in all, Andy Warhol 's artwork show great composition, which led to his success in the art and advertising
Andrew Warhola was born August Sixth, 1928, in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. He was the youngest son of Julie and Andrej Warhola, both immigrants from Czechoslovakia. After a quiet childhood spent alternately alone and in art classes, Andrew went to college. He then got a job doing commercial art, largely advertisements for large companies. Over time his name was shortened and Andy Warhol changed the face of modern art. Through his silver lined Factory and the many people who frequented it a revolution was born. This paper will discuss some of these people and examine the impact they all made on modern art.
Although today’s trends are evolving, marketing tactics are rolling back into a simpler style— minimalism. The understated art form was first expressed in New York, through paintings and large sculptures as a rebellion against artists’ expectations, such as a plethora of colors and an outburst in emotion. Hence, the controversial matter of large, symmetric, and bland sculptures composed of industrial supplies was scrutinized by the art community. But with gradual appeal to the masses and normalized inclusion in other art forms, the condescending undertones paired with minimalism has gone away. Today, minimalism is applied to fashion, plays, products, and lifestyles. However, the most prominent area affected by minimalism is the advertising
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).
In this essay I will describe an image taken from an advert and use visual methodological approach to analyse and depict the different set of meanings produced by this image. In order to explicate my ideas I will provide a brief outline of the picture. Then, I will describe a number of coded and non coded meanings and how the advert is employing a range of signifiers to communicate messages to the consumer and reinforce the brand identity. (Barthes 1972)
For my semiotic analysis I chose to talk about a commercial for ‘Be delicious’ from Donna Karan New York to demonstrate how advertising generates its meanings, construct the image and behaviors ideology in order to attract customers.
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.
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.
The Illusion of Advertisements Advertisements are pieces of art or literary work that are meant to make the viewer or reader associate with the activity or product represented in the advertisement. According to Kurtz and Dave (2010), in so doing, they aim at either increasing the demand of the product, to inform the consumer of the existence, or to differentiate that product from other existing ones in the market. Therefore, the advertiser’s aim should at all times try as much as possible to stay relevant and to the point. The advert alongside is simple and straight to the point. It contains very few details but extremely large content with the choice of words and graphics.