(English pop art, short for popular art popular, public art; the second meaning of the word is associated with the onomatopoeic English pop abrupt blow, clap, slap, i.e. producing a shocking effect) art direction of the late 1950s early 1970s; arises as an opposition to non-objective abstractionism; marks the transition to the concept of a new avant-garde.
Representatives of pop art declared their goal to be “a return to reality,” but a reality already mediated by the mass media: glossy magazines, advertising, packaging, television, and photography became their source of inspiration. Pop art returned the subject to art, but it was an object not poeticized by artistic vision, but a deliberately everyday object, associated with modern industrial culture and, in particular, with modern forms information (print, television, cinema).
New technical techniques, borrowed from industrial design and advertising: photo printing, the use of an overhead projector, the inclusion of real objects, contributed to both the “depersonalization” of individual creative manner the artist, and the “revelation aesthetic value» samples of mass products.
Pop art originated in England; American and French artists. Similar trends appeared in Italy, Germany, and even in the USSR, which at that time was separated from the rest of the world by the “Iron Curtain”.
Kuzmina M. Pop Art. In the book: Modernism. 3rd ed., M., 1980
Katalin Keserü. Variations on POP ART. Budapest, 1994
Obukhova A., Orlova M. Painting without borders. From pop art to conceptualism. 19601970s. History of painting. XX century. M., Galart, 2001
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Having glorified the culture of mass consumption, pop art itself has become one of the most cited movements in modern culture. We have selected 5 pop art artists who still influence fashion today.
On August 18, the exhibition "POPOP: Pop and Op Art" will open in Indiana, which will demonstrate how "mass" art influenced modern culture and directions in painting. And in this regard, we decided to remember which pop art artists made an important contribution to the development of fashion.
1. Andy Warhol
The pop art icon, who turned basically any consumer product into a work of art, did not ignore clothing. The famous paper dress The Souper Dress, inspired by his work with Campbell's soup cans, marked the beginning of a long relationship between Warhol and fashion. Thus, in the same collection as the Mondrian dress, Yves Saint Laurent turned to Andy's work, using a collage of his portraits on trapezoidal dresses. Warhol’s influence on the fashion world did not end there. In 2013, Dior released a collection of dresses and accessories with sketches of shoes made by Warhol, and Jean-Charles de Castelbajac created an ironic dress with. black and white portrait the father of pop art and white synthetic fur instead of hair.
2. Roy Lichtenstein
In terms of the use of painting motifs in clothing and furniture design, Liechtenstein ranks almost first. In 2011, Lisa Perry released a collection of dresses entirely dedicated to comic books. famous artist. A year later, Karla Spetic followed suit, and Markus Lupfer released a series of cashmere sweaters with sequin-embroidered inscriptions from Lichtenstein’s paintings. And it’s impossible to count the number of pairs of shoes created based on the artist’s works: Nike sneakers, Charlotte Olympia shoes, Vans sneakers and Converse - there is a pair to suit every taste and lifestyle.
3. Keith Haring
Haring's work has become so ingrained in contemporary culture that last year the department store Colette launched a pop-up store filled with items inspired by his work. A whole collection of T-shirts, accessories and even skateboards were extremely popular. With a nail fashion program then it became a dress designed by Vivienne Westwood. This is not the first time that fashion designers have turned to the work of the famous student of Warhol: shoe designer Nicholas Kirkwood has already created a provocative collection of shoes based on the works of Keith, as well as adidas, and even Tommy Hilfiger (the designer released rubber boots with the famous Haring men).
4. Takashi Murakami
One of the most successful modern Japanese artists works in a style very close to pop art. The source of his inspiration is the culture of manga and anime. Murakami himself says that “this more than anything represented modern life in Japan.” His interest in fashion as part of contemporary pop art culture resulted in a collaboration with Marc Jacobs for a line of bags and other items from the Louis Vuitton collection. As a result, boutiques around the world turned into a fairy-tale “Murakami land” populated by anime characters and childishly bright colors.
5. Yayoi Kusama
The house of Louis Vuitton generally ranks first in the number of collaborations with pop art artists. Yayoi Kusama - Japanese artist, known throughout the world for its recognizable pattern The polka dots she uses to fill rooms, objects, and even the naked bodies of her assistants are no exception. In 2012, the result of her collaboration with Louis Vuitton turned the brand's boutiques into art installations, and the artist's image served as a prototype for mannequins in the brand's storefronts around the world. Cooperation with Kusama continued good tradition attract painters to work on the collections of Marc Jacobs. Iconic bags have been turned into works of art before with the help of Richard Prince and Stephen Sprouse.
Nowadays, by the term “pop art” we mean four portraits of Marilyn Monroe in acid colors, or any other pictures like this. Some will also remember huge canvases with comic-style images. But few can explain what pop art actually is. However, the history of the pop art movement is very interesting. Representatives of this trend are the same as their brainchild: strange, but attractive in their own way.
The beginning of the history of pop art
It was the end of the 50s. In those years, in order to be considered an intellectual and a connoisseur of art, it was enough to look at a painting for some time and eventually draw some “profound” conclusion. And in that amazing period, everyone was a connoisseur: after all, the main direction of that time was abstract expressionism.
What was he like? Frankly speaking, strokes, strokes, drops of paint on a large canvas. And in all this people tried to discern hidden meaning. Naturally, staring at how someone spilled paint on the canvas will sooner or later get boring, which is exactly what happened.
Pop art originated in England in 1952 and its first representatives were three students from King's College. But now you are unlikely to find information about them, because this art direction has gained real popularity in America. One of the first works in the pop art style was the collage “What makes our houses today so different, so attractive?”
As you can see, the artistic value of the collage is quite controversial, but high art it can hardly be attributed. However, this was a kind of statement, a protest against contemporary art. And it worked. More and more new artists began to appear in pop art, who brought something of their own to this direction. As a result, by the end of the 1970s, when pop art in America faded away, its phenomenon had already spread to England, Europe and even a little in the Soviet Union. True, in the latter it was not official, and over time, all the admirers and creators of pop art paintings left the country.
Features of pop art
The peculiarity of pop art is revealed in its name: pop (popular) - popular; art - art. In short, it is an art that focuses on the little things that everyone can find in their surroundings. Supporters of this movement tried to return materiality and tangibility to art. They took inspiration from modern life, in his surroundings, and in the life of ordinary Americans.
They did it - each in their own way. So, for example, pop art can include both collages like the one we showed above and paintings with comic drawings. Some transferred photographs onto huge silk canvases. Some painted flat women surrounded by almost volumetric items everyday life. Some people cut holes in the picture and put their TVs in them (no, this is not a joke, there will be examples below). Everyone brought something of their own to pop art, and that is why this direction is so diverse and ambiguous.
Representatives of pop art
Below we will tell you about the brightest and most significant representatives of the pop art movement.
1 Andy Warhol
“Marilyn Diptych”, E. Warhol
The same Andy Warhol who painted Marilyn Monroe. By the way, he “drew” not only her, but also other famous personalities. In addition to painting celebrities, he also became famous for his painting of two hundred cans of soup. Which, by the way, brought him a huge amount of money. Actually, all the paintings brought him huge profits, because 50-80 copies were printed daily, all year round. He depicted everything: canned food, celebrities, photos of car accidents, portraits of criminals and much more. And they bought it all.
By the way, Warhol was also the director who made the 24-hour film. This film, however, did not have a special plot: the camera simply filmed a sleeping person.
2 Roy Lichtenstein
“M-Maybe”, R. Lichtenstein
Famous for giving us two-meter comics. He did everything even simpler than Warhol: he took a picture that he liked, enlarged it in size and transferred it to silk canvases measuring 2x3 meters (sometimes even larger). Now, following his example, many paintings depicting superheroes or superheroines are being made. Sometimes in his paintings, in addition to images, words flashed.
3 Tom Wesselman
“Bath Collage”, T. Wesselmann
He became famous for his images of flat, drawn people (usually women) on real objects. Also, I once painted a still life depicting a table with fruit on it and two paintings: a star and a portrait of Abraham Lincoln. But main feature What became of this painting was that the artist made a hole in the table area and placed a TV there. In the 80s, by the way, he worked with metal and carved his drawings on it.
4 Robert Rauschenberg
“The Path to Heaven”, R. Rauschenberg
Creator of “combined paintings” that combine a drawing and a real object. True, if Wesselmann used this technique on canvas, Rauschenberg did it differently: he literally exhibited objects in galleries. For example, one of his most famous works is a bed. Literally his bed, doused in paint and placed upright. True, most often he acted in a similar direction using stuffed animals. In addition, he had three stages in which he created his first works: numbers and figures were depicted in black on a white background (first); crumpled newspapers were glued onto the canvas (second), objects were placed on all this (nails, newspapers, photographs, etc.) and the picture was covered in red. He is famous for erasing a painting by Willem de Kooning (one of the leaders of abstract expressionism) and exhibiting it under the title “Erased Drawing by Willem de Kooning.” Later, in the 60s and 70s, he stopped painting and went into theatrical actions, which gave rise to pop art.
5 Jasper Johns
"Two Cans" D. Jones
An artist who paints flags and casts toothbrushes and beer cans in bronze. Mine creative path started by painting a painting of "The Flag" by sleeping on an American flag. Almost all of his paintings in this direction represent the American flag in different color ranges. Interestingly, Jasper Johns is the most expensive living artist. And his painting “White Flag” was purchased by the museum in 1998 for a price greater than 20 million dollars.
Conclusion
Pop art was admired for its simplicity, uncomplicatedness and unusualness. It replaced the abstract and incomprehensible style, and was so “alive” and understandable to everyone that it became part of popular culture literally right away. Naturally, everything ends sooner or later and goes into decline, but this moment Pop art paintings are being created, although their creators hardly understand the real essence this movement.
“200 cans of Campbell’s soup” by E. Warhol
