The Andy Warhol Pop Art Legacy
During the second half of the twentieth century, popular culture
and the mass media gained a huge significance in America. The
style of art that was both a product and critique of the social
milieu was known as pop art. No other artist is more identified
with this artistic style as Andy Warhol. His signature soup cans
and silk screens helped to define an entire artistic movement
making Andy Warhol undoubtedly the "Prince of Pop" in the art
world.
Emerging in the late 1950s in England and America, pop art
sought to depict the images of mass media advertising, comic
books, and consumer products. Pop art much like pop music aimed
to appeal to a broad audience and rebelled against the idea of
high or elitist culture. It was in this light-hearted
environment that the Andy Warhol pop art phenomenon was born.
Perhaps the most famous of Warhol's pieces are his mass produced
series of several photographs of movie stars, political figures
and other well-known celebrities. His technique involved
enhancing the photograph with a simple silk screening method
and, upon close inspection of his finished work, it is apparent
that the paintings are complete with imperfections. It was
Warhol's aim to produce a large number of the same painting, all
of which with their own flaws and errors. By reproducing his
flawed work, Warhol wanted to use the image of the celebrity in
order to make a comment on American society. It was his belief
that the image of the celebrity had become itself a brand. This
celebrity brand was ever-changing and had replaced any sense of
sacredness or solidity. A well-known example is the painting of
Marilyn Monroe. Sadly, the famous Monroe prints were made all
the more poignant when she tragically committed suicide the same
month as the release of the prints.
The Andy Warhol pop art phenomenon may be best characterized by
his 'Campbell's Soup Cans' silk screen work. In fact, Warhol's
big break into widespread recognition came with the 1962 Los
Angeles exhibition of his now famous depictions of the soup
cans. Drawn from the mass marketing culture, the 'Campbell's
Soup Cans' appeared larger than life and made a definite
statement about the consumer-driven society that had become so
prevalent in America.
Andy Warhol defined pop art by changing the way that images are
seen. His work was a close interaction between art and popular
culture and his strategy was to combine the two by appropriating
different well-known cultural images. Andy Warhol was a
multi-talented artist who not only influenced the pop art
movement, but also shaped and inspired countless artists to
come.
Claes Oldenburg, and Roy Lichtenstein are presented alongside
works by California artists Ed Ruscha, Wayne Thiebaud, and
Robert Arneson, among others, underscoring the role of the West
Coast in this pivotal movement.