Pop Art for Beginners

Peaking in the 1960s, Pop Art began as a revolt against mainstream approaches to art and culture and evolved into a wholesale interrogation of modern society, consumerism, the role of the artist, and of what constituted an artwork. Epitomized by Warhol's Campbell's soup cans, Pop Art drew on mass-market sources and products as well as the banal and kitsch. Focusing on issues of materialism, celebrity, and media, Pop Art drew on mass-market sources, from advertising imagery to comic books, from Hollywood's most famous faces to the packaging of consumer products, the latter epitomized by Andy Warhol's Campbell's soup cans. As well as challenging the establishment with the elevation of such popular, banal, and kitschy images, Pop Art also deployed methods of mass-production, reducing the role of the individual artist with mechanized techniques such as screen printing. With featured artists including Andy Warhol, Allen Jones, Ed Ruscha, Robert Indiana, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, and Roy Lichtenstein, this book introduces the full reach and influence of a defining modernist movement.

When the kitschy, banal, and mass-market became art, Whaam! From the Publisher's perspective, the movement known as Pop Art, which peaked in the 1960s, began as a revolt against mainstream approaches to art and culture. It then evolved into a comprehensive examination of modern society, consumerism, the role of the artist, and the very definition of an artwork. Warhol's iconic Campbell's soup cans exemplify how Pop Art drew inspiration from mass-market sources and products, as well as from the banal and kitsch. Focusing on themes of materialism, celebrity, and media, Pop Art incorporated a wide range of mass-market references, from advertising imagery and comic books to Hollywood stars and consumer product packaging. By elevating these popular, banal, and kitschy images, Pop Art challenged the established art world. Furthermore, the movement embraced mass-production techniques, such as screen printing, which diminished the individual artist's role. This book introduces the full breadth and impact of this defining modernist movement, with featured artists including Andy Warhol, Allen Jones, Ed Ruscha, Robert Indiana, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, and Roy Lichtenstein.

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