Pop-Art is a term that was coined by Lawrence Alloway, an English curator, and critic of art, in the year 1955. The term describes a movement that emerged in the US in the late-1950s and mid-1950s in Britain and consisted of subversive artists who adopted art from popular culture and materialism, and majorly used mass media to convey messages from their artworks. Pop culture, also called popular culture, are mainstream perspectives, views, adverts, images, etc. mostly portrayed in mass media. Pop-art integrates into pop culture in that it uses our every day’s life as portrayed in the media to further its works. The content of pop culture is therefore as a result of pop art.
The first piece of art is that of Marilyn Monroe; the painting has 50 photographs of the movie star with 25 photos on the right brightly colored and 25 on the left side colored in black and white and fades towards the right (Warhol 23). This Andy Warhol used to depict the celebrity’s life when she was at the peak of fame and career to her death through an overdose on a sleeping pill
Warhol’s use of difference in images also depicts the celebrity’s struggle to maintain a certain appearance before the public. This means that they try to maintain what they symbolize even though they change as time goes by. This masterpiece also shows Monroe’s outlook in the public, not her person personality (Warhol 15). Also by using a photo that could be reproduced and used in various media houses, Warhol tries to persuade us to consider celebrities and artistes like products. By using the diptych, something that associated with saints (Warhol, 26), Warhol illustrates his perspective of fame, it does not only bring to an individual material wealth, but it also preserves one’s image and could make them immortal.
Postmodernism objects the general perspective that reality can be explained and is understood in the same manner by all individuals, that trying to explain reality using scientific and objectives perspectives does not mean that certainty on those explanations exists (Dickens, David & Andrea 34). Instead, postmodernism contends that reality and explanations to different phenomena cannot be the same or that individuals cannot have the same understanding of them, rather, it entirely depends on of an individual’s relative perspective. Postmodernism denies the presence of any ultimate premise and does not hope for future existence of scientific, religious and philosophical explanation to everything to meet everyone’s satisfaction.
Post-structuralism can be explained by considering the positions of its predecessor structuralism. Structuralism contended that human culture can be explained by considering structures like language structures (Devetak 189). These two have influenced art in that the interpretations of any artwork have been considered not to be fixed. In other words, different artworks can be interpreted differently depending on certain individual or group understanding of it. That considering certain cultures and understanding them, then artworks will be interpreted differently and not have a universal understanding or explanation.
The second artwork, Moma chairs by Jackson Pollock, depicts postmodernism art. The artwork shows the real object with decorations (Toynton 16). The juxtaposition of old and new artwork in Pollock’s artwork explains the perspective of postmodernism and the change brought about. The old painting and styles are put into modern art and styles but the two being under completely different context just as depicted by Pollock’s Moma chairs (Toynton 16).
References
Dickens, David R., and Andrea Fontana. Postmodernism and social inquiry. Routledge, 2015.
Devetak, Richard. "Post-structuralism." (2013): 187-216.
Warhol, Andy. "Marilyn Diptych, 1962." Tate Modern, London. Tate Online 27 (2009).
Toynton, Evelyn. Jackson Pollock. Yale University Press, 2011.
