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The Pop Art movement emerged a few years after the Second World War, around the 1950s fueled by the enormous economic growth and technological innovations that led to the beginning of mass consumerism and popular culture found in media. This movement sought to celebrate as well as critique the mass manufacturing and production of popular consumer products as well as our obsession with the rich and famous. The origins of this movement can be traced back to British artists such as Richard Hamilton and Eduardo Paolozzi, members of the "Independent Group" who sought to fill the gap between what was perceived to be commonplace objects or everyday items and elevating them to the level of fine art. They also explored the impact media and new technologies had on communities and society in general. The movement skyrocketed in the 60s with the work of American artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Claes Oldenburg who each had a massive impact on the meaning and message behind Pop Art.

Some features of Pop Art is recognizable images from popular media and icons. Use of bright, bold, vibrant colors, as well as the use of irony was laced throughout the whole movement. (invaluable.com)

The video provided above gives a brief definition of Pop Art and the impact it had on society and culture that still affects us today.

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What is Pop Art? The Art Movement Explained

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There were many things that influenced the rise of Pop Art. Firstly, Pop Art was a reaction against the main major art movement at the time, Abstract Expressionism, which Pop artists thought was too serious and cold and not relevant to the realities of everyday life. Pop artists felt that what they were taught at art school and the subject matter contained in museums didn't reflect the things that surrounded them every day, so they turned their inspiration towards popular media influences and imagery which was another major influence in Pop Art such as famous Hollywood movies, movie stars, popular advertisements, billboards, comic strips, shop windows, etc (guggenheim.org). This along with the increase of mass production of different aesthetically pleasing objects, such as Coke bottles and Campbell soup cans that were becoming a large part of consumerist America were major themes that were found in different pop artist's paintings, silk screenings, or sculptures.

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Additionally, Pop art was influenced in part by social and political activist events occurring in the 60s used to provide commentary on women's suffrage, critique the Vietnam War, promote equality for African Americans during the Civil Rights movement, and much more (moma.org). Pop art also critiqued the mass consumption of goods that seemed to abound in post-war society. Lastly, Dadaism and Surrealism had an impact on the movement as well. Pop Art also seemed to copy the notions of challenging traditional art and seeking to go against what was the status quo and break the norms in the art world at that time just like Dadaism and Surrealism tended to do as well. All of these influences played a major role into the essence of what Pop Art was and what it represented.

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Richard Hamilton, "Just What Is It That Makes Today's Homes So Different, So Appealing?" 1956

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Richard Hamilton, one of the members of the "Independent Group" was born and raised in London, where he attended the Royal Academy Schools until he was expelled. Hamilton is often identified as the founder of Pop art especially for his art piece "Just What Is It That Makes Today’s Homes So Different, So Appealing?" (1956) displayed at the exhibition This is Tomorrow held by the Independent Group under the Institution of Contemporary Arts in London. This art collage (pictured above) displayed a contemporary Adam and Eve, surrounded with many of the luxuries and commodities of modern living such as a portable record player, a versatile vacuum cleaner for the typical hardworking housewife, a canned ham, a scenic view of the movie theater through the window, and of course the television. This collage exemplified the effects of consumerism and blurred the boundary line between high and low art.
Richard Hamilton was greatly influenced by the artist Marcel Duchamp whose idea was that "the mission of art should be to destroy the normal meanings and functions of art". With Duchamp's depiction of the urinal, he provided that anything could be art if that is what the artist intended. Hamilton eventually listed the characteristics of Pop art as being, "Popular (designed for a mass audience), Transient (short-term solution), Expendable (easily forgotten), Low cost, Mass produced, Young (aimed at youth), Witty, Sexy, Gimmicky, Glamorous, Big Business" (magazine.artland.com). Richard Hamilton helped define the movement that would have a lasting effect for generations to come.

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Andy Warhol, an American artist, was one of the leading figures in the pop art movement. "His works explore the relationship between artistic expression, advertising, and celebrity culture...and span a variety of mediums including painting, silk-screening, photography, film, and sculpture" (tate.org.uk). He is known for making the popular silkscreen prints of the bland yet widely known Campbell soup cans as well as producing a great number of portraits of celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, while experimenting with variations in colors and having multiple pictures of the same thing on the same canvas. He emphasized this popular imagery as a way to show how society has turned them into items that can be bought and sold mirroring the times of mass production and quick and easy entertainment.

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It is important to understand the different elements that form Pop-Art, and although they vary from artist to artist a few common elements are:
-Subject matter deals with popular Americana culture such as celebrities, advertisements, shopping catalogs, and comic books.
-Mass production techniques such as halftone printing
-Excessive repetition of the same image on the same page
-Image reproductions with substituted colors.
-Use of industrial materials to give their work a sleek, modern aesthetic.
-Irony and satire (used to comment on the superficiality and excess of consumer culture).
All of these elements should be helpful when it comes to identifying pop art pieces. "Pop art is a name that reads like a contradiction. Art is often lauded as high-minded and original. Pop is largely disdained as lowbrow and repetitive...[pop art] revels in irony and combined what shouldn't be combined" (99designs.com). The economic boom that followed WWII helped ease America into the mass consumer society it is now.

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Claes Oldenburg, Clothespin, Pennsylvania 1976

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Claes Oldenburg is another prominent artist known during the Pop Art movement whose massive and large-scale sculptures of normal everyday objects continue to be admired and celebrated today. He is a Swedish American artist whose sculptures celebrated popular culture and consumerism and challenged traditional ideas about sculpture by using unexpected materials to create unexpected fun and whimsical works of art. "Everyday items are presented on a magnified scale that reverses the traditional relationship between viewer and object...his sculptures are like Surrealist dreams made real" (theartstory.org)
The picture I have attached above is of a famous sculpture Oldenburg did in Pennsylvania in 1976. It is called the Clothespin and is a perfect example of the type of art Claes was most focused on. It is a 45-foot steel representation of a clothespin, which is a classic example of an everyday household item that would be used, especially for laundry. Oldenburg converts this classic domestic everyday item into a piece of high art that stuns the masses and creates a thoughtful sculpture.

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Another influential artist to keep in mind during the Pop Art movement was Roy Lichtenstein, known for his bright and bold colors and incorporation of elements from comic books. His painting, "Whaam!", is one of his most famous works that depicts a fighter plane firing a missile in comic book fashion. "The use of ben-day, a halftone printing technique (by lines of dots) allowing the obtaining of a colour without gradients is combined with a palette of intense colours which gives off a great expressiveness...he aims to manifest his keen interest in life, love and death alongside for modern American society" (artland.com). His art pieces managed to evoke the typical elements found in Pop-Art which is to be loud, bright, and colorful, as well as providing a commentary on the mass consumerism of the time and converting it into high, influential art.