Was It Celebrated or Criticized?
Pop Art is known for taking an ambivalent stance towards consumerism since one can detect both affirmation and critique of the consumer-driven culture in the artworks of the leading Pop artists. Artists drew inspiration from everyday products, celebrities, and advertisements. In that way, they certainly embraced and accepted consumerist imagery. A critical dimension of Pop Art’s engagement with consumerism is also evident in the manner Pop artists approached rapidly developing materialism in both social and cultural dimensions. What Is Pop Art? Brillo Soap Pads Box, Andy Warhol, 1964. Source: The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. Pop Art is an art movement that began in the United Kingdom in the mid-1950s. It reached its peak in the 1960s on American soil and it ended in the late 1970s when minimalism took over the art world. Some of the leading American Pop artists include Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, James Rosenquist, Claes Oldenburg, and Tom Wesselmann. Even though each one of these artists had their own artistic approach and style, what they …