Pop Art

I'll be the first to admit at any point in time that I don't like Andy Warhol's art. Probblay not Andy Warhol for that matter, but that's another issue, his art drives me crazy. A big soup can? Big Deal! Multiple images of Marilyn Monroe in various neon colors and cow wall paper? (ok I like cow wall paper.) How many have been to the Andy Warhol museum in Pittsburgh, PA? Did you stand and watch all 25 minutes of the guy eating the ice cream cone and petting the cat while looking out the window? I did. I was hoping for the twist, or the point, or perhaps alien space craft to appear in the upper corner of the window pane and give some purpose to my being there other than cow wall paper, silver cloud room and the money I paid at the door.

Pop Art is what Warhol is famous for. The merging of popular culture and art. It's a kind of in your face approach to the American culture. The Pop culture of the time when pop art first came about is getting to be more nostalgic now however and anyone who produces similar art in that vain will be creating a kind of nostalgic art rather than true pop art. But why should I be ranting on about pop art when I'm not all that thrilled with it any way? I'll tell you why, because it's relevant to the every age.

While I was mowing the grass the other weekend I was thinking about Warhol and how much I despised that gigantic soup can and old tomato box. And I challenged myself to why I disliked it so much. My answer was, as is many people's who don't understand, "It's stupid." A more thoughtful art student might add, "It ranks up there with R.L. Mutt's Urinal. Only a Urinal is cooler." Well I have to say I still hold that opinion but Warhol happened to strike that genius nerve when he began to produce his artwork.

Mass media inundates us daily, whether it's a guy dancing and displaying boxer shorts, or a faux porcupine selling fabric softener. These images aren't generally considered art. But here is where Warhol comes into the picture. Warhol recognized that the everyday images that bombard us are very much art if we are forced to confront them as such. The giant soup can, the picture of Marilyn, even (annoying enough) the man eating ice cream are art. The everyday life that surrounds us is beautiful and can be considered artistic in it's own right. While the man eating ice for 25 minutes is not in my opinion Pop Art, Marilyn and Soup Can (at that time) were.

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