Throughout the history of art there have been many movements that have changed the way art was presented. With each new movement artists had to change the way they approached their work. Many of them had their own thoughts about a movement known as pop art. This movement started in the mid-1950s in Britain and the late-1950s here in the U.S. One artist who had something to say was Claes Oldenburg. He wrote his artist manifesto titled “I Am For”. In it he gives his full support for pop art as a movement. What is the history of pop art? How did Oldenburg’s ideals relate to the movement he was so fond of?
What exactly is pop art? Pop art is a style of art that directly challenged traditional methods. It does this by using famous pop culture icons and advertisements. Many times, the materials used to create pop art are entirely unrelated. In fact, it emphasizes the cliché elements of any culture. It mostly does this in an ironic fashion. To go along with its ironic themes artist used their paint in a way that imitated industrial printing techniques. It’s thought that pop art was a reaction to ideas of abstract expressionism which was dominant at the time. Like any idea abstract expressionism was overtaken by an idea thought of as more popular. Pop art became the new norm at the time. The pioneers that shaped the movement were Eduardo Paolozzi and Richard Hamilton in Britain. Robert Rauschenburg and Jasper Johns shaped it in the United States. These four men turned pop art into an art form. From its creation, it would go on to evolve eventually becoming what it is today.
Not all artist agreed with the idea of using idols and household items. Some criticized it. Some artist however, wholeheartedly supported the movement. A famous artist, by the name of Claes Oldenburg was a huge supporter of pop art. He was creating sculptures of everyday items. He made them larger than normal. This goes along with the following quote. He stated “I am for an art that embroils itself with the everyday crap and still comes out on top.” I interpret this as him saying he believed anything could be assembled and be called art. That statement is pop art in a nutshell. With pop art, everyday objects are meant to be used creatively. At the end of his manifesto he begins listing different types of art that he one hundred percent approves of. To name a few, he mentions ready-to-eat art, best-for-less art, and spend less art. I think ready-to-eat art involves photographing food in artistic ways such as placing apples of different colors in a pattern and taking pictures of them from appealing angles. Those normal apples are now considered art. Best-for-less art is what can be created from cheap materials and made to look like the more expensive version of itself. Claes casually explained pop art in one unadulterated manifesto.
Pop art includes heavy use of pop culture icons. Now, aside from everyday objects being used for art, artists looked towards using popular figures like celebrities to create works of art. Andy Warhol used Marilyn Monroe to create a work titled “Marilyn Diptych”. People look up to celebrities and even see them as idols. Marilyn Monroe was incredibly famous while living. Andy Warhol uses Monroe’s persona to create his work. Just like Andy other artist went with the movement and used other well-known people to create art. Today you might see famous people like the late Michael Jackson, Beyonce, or Lady GaGa displayed as art. They are idolized by an abundance of people. Pop art is another way for them to be shown off in an artistic way aside from their music.
Pop art can be described as anything artist piece together, put their name on it, and call it art. It is a movement that continues to thrive in today’s world where artist use art from every historical period to create works of art. Of course, art continues to include new and exciting methods. Of course, like all things pop art probably won’t last forever. There will be new types of art. They may even draw inspiration from pop art. For the seeable future, art will surely continue to change and get better with new artist changing how things are done. Art is just like technology. It’s forever changing and improving. With new artist at the helm art will continue to reach new never-before seen heights.