Joe Tilson: British Pop Artist

Joe Tilson - The 1/2 Ziggurat - 1965 - Color screenprint on ivory wove paper - 577 × 839 mm (image); 686 × 997 mm (sheet) - Art Institute of Chicago (click photo for larger image)

British Pop Artist Joe Tilson (born 1928) “became one of the leading figures associated with the British Pop Art movement. Making use of his previous experience as a carpenter and joiner, Tilson produced wooden reliefs and constructions as well as prints and paintings.”

His work is exhibited in major cities all over the world. He is represented by Marlborough Fine Art, London and Alan Cristea Gallery, London. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy (ARA) in 1985 and a full Royal Academician (RA) in 1991.

Richard Hamilton: Total Immersion

Richard Hamilton - Just what was it that made yesterday's homes so different, so appealing? (upgrade) - Digital print on paper - 260 x 250 mm - Tate Gallery - London (click photo for larger image)British artist Richard Hamilton (1922-2011) introduced the idea of the artist as an active consumer and contributor to mass culture. Up until then (especially in Abstract Expressionist circles) the prevailing view was that art should be separate from commerce. Hamilton gave other artists permission to consider all visual sources, especially those generated by the commercial sector. For him, “Pop art was not just a movement, but a way of life”.

Nearly every artist involved in the first wave of British Pop was shaped meaningfully by Hamilton's vision for the future of the movement. His impact on his British pupils Peter Blake and David Hockney is especially evident, but he also left his mark on the American Pop artists such as Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, whom he got to know and occasionally collaborated with when he visited the United States during the 1960s. “His flair for public spectacle, genuine love of kitsch, and irreverent approach to cultural icons lives on in the work of the Young British Artists (YBA) of the 1990s, among them Damien Hirst, who describes Hamilton as the greatest.” 

“The image featured here is among the most famous in British post-war art. It has come to define the rise of consumer society in the mid to late 1950s and is an icon of Pop art…”

It was always very important to Hamilton for people to understand that Pop Art began in Britain.

Eduardo Paolozzi: A Founder of British Pop Art

Eduardo Paolozzi - Jesus colour by numbers, from General Dynamic F.U.N - 1970 - 15 x 10 in. - Photolithograph on paper - Art Institute of Chicago (click photo for larger image)Eduardo Paolozzi (1924-2005) was a prolific and inventive British artist most known for his synthesis of Surrealism’s principles and new elements of popular culture, modern machinery and technology. “He was raised in the shadows of World War II in a family deeply affected by the divisive nature of a country involved in conflict, which birthed his lifelong exploration into the many ways humans are influenced by external, uncontrollable forces. This exploration would come to inform a vast and various body of work that vacillated between the darker and lighter consequences of society's advancements and its so-called progress.”

Most people associate Pop Art with American popular culture. Its seeds, however, go back to a group of artists in London (the Independent Group) that began meeting regularly in 1954 to discuss topics such as mass culture's place in fine art, the found object, and science and technology. 

Pino Pascali: Arte Povera

Pino Pascali - Bridge - 1968 - Steel wool and wire - 39 3/8" x 26' 3" x 35 7/16" (800 x 100 x 90 cm) - MoMA, New York (click photo for larger image)Arte Povera (Italian for "Impoverished Art" or "Poor Art”) was is label for a small group of artists in Italy who were experimenting with nontraditional and politically charged art, in the 1960s and 1970s.

These artists created and explored modes of expression such as ephemeral art, performance art, installation art and assemblage, using what have been referred to as “poor” non-art materials. These techniques have since become extremely common tools in contemporary art; in fact this is one of the reasons that such a small and short-lived movement continues to have such relevance today.

One of the clearest influences on the group was the work of Dada artist Marcel Duchamp (discussed elsewhere on What About Art?). His "Readymade" sculptures, especially his infamous "Fountain" urinal, have the same kind of subversive power that Arte Povera artists aimed to achieve.

Pino Pascali (1935-1968) was part of the Arte Povera movement. He used everyday, natural, and unorthodox materials in his work, including cans, steel wool, hay, and dirt. His "fake sculptures" appear to be solid structures but are actually shaped canvases whose forms suggest animals, plants, and landscapes. 

The work featured here, Bridge, has the appearance of a primitive rope bridge. But it is constructed of steel wool, a modern industrial product. This is the most ambitious of the works in Pascali's last series, entitled Reconstructions of Nature. "I do not believe you make shows in galleries," Pascali said, "you make the gallery, you create the space."

Pascali is also known for his Weapons series, re-creations of guns and cannons assembled from found materials and painted army green. His inspired works were an important contribution to postwar art within his short lifetime.

Wayne Thiebaud: Pop Artist or Not?

Wayne Thiebaud - Bakery Counter - 1962 - Oil on canvas - 54 7/8 x 71 7/8 in (139.4 x 182.6 cm) - Private collection (click photo for large image)Wayne Thiebaud (born 1920) is an American painter who it’s been said was a pop artist before there was Pop Art! Some scholars, however, would disagree with that characterization. Nevertheless, Thiebaud’s most famous works are of objects of mass culture--such as baked goods, toilets, lipsticks and toys. Read a fascinating article on Thiebaud and his work.