Art In Context: Pop Art In America In The 1960'S Essay

POP ART IN AMERICA IN THE 1960’s

The 1960’s in America was a time of rapid change, both socially and politically, initiated by the voice of a mass group of teenagers growing up from the post World War II baby boom years.   American’s began to be concerned with their lifestyle and their quality of life and much conflict arose over big issues such as abortion, drugs and homosexuality.   Despite firstly appearing in England in 1953, Pop Art began independently in New York between 1961 and 1965.   Its intention: to be an ‘art for the people’.   How does Pop Art relate to the history of America in the 1960’s?   Pop Art simply borrowed images from the popular culture, hence the name, Pop Art.   Anything from movie stars, to cans of soup; from images of war, to appliances; the subject matter for Pop Art consisted of items likely to be seen in everyday life.   It could therefore relate to the common person, unlike Abstract expressionism of the 1950’s, which the general American couldn’t necessarily appreciate.   With this difference, Pop Art changed the art world, and is still intriguing today.   The works of Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Claus Oldenburg all exemplify this idea of art being created for the common person, through using immediately recognizable subject matter, relevant themes and forms of expression.
Andy Warhol began his art career in 1949, doing commercial art jobs in New York, and soon became known as the best shoe drawer in the whole of New York City.   It was not surprising then that Warhol liked using commercial art as subject matter.   His repertoire includes an array of commercial images; from Brillo Boxes and soup cans to Hollywood actors (whom he had a fascination with since childhood.)   Wanting to be completely detached from his work, Warhol likened his production process to that of a machine, naming his studio ‘The Factory,’ and using silkscreen printing to mass produce artworks.   As his artwork instigated the Pop Art movement in America, he is...