Pop art was originally a descendant of Dada, Dada was a movement in the 1920’s but came to halt in the thirties due to the great depression that shook the world. Marcel Duchamp tried to breach the gap between art and society, his goal was to bring them closer together.
Roy Lichtenstein set the highest standard and led the way of pop art. Lichtenstein was and still is considered the most sophisticated pop artist around. Roy Lichtenstein was inspired by Picasso’s paintings; he studied them and learnt from them. In 1961 Roy Lichtenstein made use of the “Ben-Day dots”. This was the first time an artist had used this device. Lichtenstein exploited this and turned it into a signature for himself on his paintings of cartoon characters.
Many Pop artists have attempted to and inspired an impersonal approach in to work trying not to offend any community. Although in many circumstances pop artist did impose their own views in their work, Pop artist took this opportunity to criticize society.
The “Ben-Day dots” led the way for commercial use of pop art. Lichtenstein used this to his advantage and exploited it. The “Ben-Day dots” was an efficient use in advertising. This device allowed unique paintings and large scale posters to be created. The more striking pop art was created by Roy Lichtenstein. Lichtenstein manipulated the way we see day to day objects and cartoon drawings.
As you would expect there are many different societies, pop art is illustrating society. Each country has a different type of pop art. The British pop art dealt more with items, technology and landscapes, all of them had a theme. The British are highlighting the relationship for the love of art rather than society. The American pop artist’s were a lot more aggressive and relentlessly stubborn to get their way of thinking across in their art. A lot of the American pop art had a hidden agenda, rebelling against society it self a great deal. Artist used this to base a lot of their ideas on culture.
Pop art to me is about the times we live, the technology and the garbage (tin cans). Many artists can relate to the consumer society through art. Pop art illustrates the modern day infrastructure that is around us. Without this infrastructure the world economies would cease, Pop artist’s highlight and realize this point. They focus a lot of their art on technology today. Pop art wasn’t taken serious until we took machines for granted. I believe that it is a fact that artist can and do make a direct response to modern day consumer society.
