THE POP ART MOVEMENT - By Autumn Boyet-Stinton (Original Article Written 12/23/2007)

It always strikes me that in addition to having "creative" minds, most artists are "thinkers."  Many of them even classified as philosophers.  Not only have artists changed the way that we look at beauty or defined an era, they also are responsible for shaking things up in our social circles. 

While society has been a constant as time has plugged along, history has shown that ARTISTS have taken the lead in propelling us forward in the way that we see not only art forms, but our lives in general....I think that artists can be held responsible for the phrase that we all know so well...."Thinking outside the box."  This is probably a topic to be discussed in it's own forum.  So, for now, I digress....

These thoughts bring me to the topic I chose to write about:

POP ART and ANDY WARHOL 

In the 1960's, he took to painting very basic, very AMERICAN things.  (Campell's Soup Cans and Coca-Cola)  Welcome to the POP ART era.  It has been said that he was one of the greats in his time.  But he was more than just an artist.  In addition to being a painter, he was a successful commercial illustrator, a record maker, a filmmaker and social guru.  He was active in and embraced all sorts of wildly diverse social glasses from bohemian street people to distinguished intellectuals.  And lets not forget the celebrities and wealthy aristocrats that he befriended. 

Being born in America, Warhol found a way to make a statement about our society in in his art.  I personally think that he saw the indulgent direction that we were headed in and therefore focused his efforts in becoming  "a machine."  His art became about minimizing the role of his own hand in the production of his work - MASS PRODUCTION of art that featured the things that defined a country and a society - dollar bills, celebrities, brand name products, images from newspaper clippings that were iconic images from headline stories of the decade.  (e.g.photographs of the mushroom cloud and civil rights protesters)  The subjects of his art were very recognizable and appealed to the masses.  Obviously, his art would be controversial and popular, and this is what I'm talking about! 

Artists have a way of shaking things up.  Making people see, ACTUALLY SEE not just look at what is right in front of them. 

Think about what this quote means to our society and the POP ART CULTURE. 

"What's great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coca Cola, Liz Taylor drinks Coca Cola, and just think, you can drink Coca Cola, too. A coke is a coke and no amount of money can get you a better coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the cokes are the same and all the cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it."

This Warhol quote shows that this artist not only loved and cherished the privileges of his culture and American society, but it also shows something more about his art and his perspective.  He recognized the commercialism that was becoming paramount, and yet, used that very thing to promote and create ART...A movement, a culture - "POP"   - Fleeting and commercial, based on the ideals of a self absorbed society, yet, LOVED by the masses. 

That is quite a revolution in itself!  A slap in the face of each greedy American, but still a celebration of all that we take for granted and LOVE!  What an amazing shift in art Andy Warhol brought to our world!