Unit 2 Summative: Pop Art- Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol first acquired  his pop art inspiration/education from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh where he studied commercial art. He later moved to New York City where he gained fame for his hand-drawn  advertisement magazine illustrations, specifically of shoes.

Beginning in the 1960s, Warhol first exhibited his iconic pop art that he is so famously known for today. It was during this time that he began making paintings of American icons - products and celebrities. Some of these included Coca-Cola bottles and Marilyn Monroe. This was the start of the pop art revolution. Warhol’s work in the 1960s specifically focused on USA pop culture, such as celebrities and products of the time, as well as controversial news headlines. Later on in the later 1960s and into the 1970s, Warhol began painting portraits of some of the most famous people of the time, who are still icons to this day. These included Mick Jagger, John Lennon, Michael Jackson, and Mao Zedong.

Andy Warhol was the first artist to take commercial art into the fine art industry. He did this by putting commercial images of popular products and public figures of the time and put these on silkscreen prints and called this fine art. This caused controversy in the art world, though Warhol sparked a revolution in art and his works became popular.

Warhol’s art, although produced in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, is still relevant today. Today, people have become objects of consumerism. Warhol was criticized during his time for being a ‘business artist’ and ‘surrendering to consumerism.’ This remains the same today: consumerism and advertisements are all around us, everywhere we go - for our drive, while surfing the internet, and especially while watching TV. Warhol was able to realize that popular culture (popular objects, people, etc.) is what is important to society and in 2008 this is especially true. 

Warhol coined the phrase ’15 minutes of fame’ more than 25 years ago. This refers to the fame and attention a person or objects receives for a short period of time, and then this fame passes onto a new object ‘as soon as the public’s attention span is exhausted.’ Warhol captured this in his art and he couldn’t have been more correct.