Pop Art: Evolution, Influence, and Andy Warhol

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Pop art is an experimental art which surfaced in Great Britain in the early 1950’s. One of the major art movements of the twentieth century, it came into its own in the United States in the late 1950’s. This art form incorporated photographs in ways that had not been utilized before. It utilized mass-culture imagery and iconography, in contrast to the traditional tendencies of fine art. Pop art is considered to be one of the last modern art movements and served as a precursor to postmodern art. The art form is characterized by themes and techniques derived from mass culture, including advertising and comic books. Perhaps one of the most famous Pop artists, is Andy Warhol.
Andy Warhol was an American Pop artist who was born on August 6, …show more content…

Campbell’s Soup Cans, consisted of thirty-two canvases, one for each flavor of Campbell’s Soup variety sold at the time. Each canvas was hand-painted, and he carefully reproduced the same image on each one, only varying on the label for each can, differentiating them by their variety. It was shortly after he completed this work, that he began to use the photo-silkscreen process.
Most famous for his paintings and films, Warhol also created works in many different media, including silkscreen. When he began experimenting with screen printing in the 1960’s, the medium was not widely-used. Because the process utilizes machinery, it was not accepted by all as an art form. Skeptics with traditional views of art, argued that there must be direct contact between the artist and his chosen medium.
Screen printing involves a lengthy process and requires a great deal of patience and an eye for detail. During the 1960s, he founded his studio, “The Factory” and mingled with a wide range of artists, writers, musicians, and underground celebrities. In the studio, Warhol would direct his team in the creation of silkscreens and lithographs. His work was in high demand, and he utilized the help of the “Warhol Superstars” to mass-produce his silkscreens. This group, made up of adult film stars, drag queens, drug addicts, musicians and socialites helped create the atmosphere for which “The Factory” became …show more content…

The photographs were taken by Warhol himself, as well as his friends and cohorts. He was an accomplished photographer, and had a large collection of photographs of “The Factory” visitors and his friends. He preferred a particular camera, and the Polaroid SX-70 model was kept in production just for him. Artistic photography has been greatly influenced by the artist’s photographic approach to painting combined with his snapshot method of taking pictures. Warhol once asked, “Isn’t life a series of images that change as they repeat themselves?” The question appropriately reflected his ideology of screen printing and his often-used style of

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