Pop Art in America

One of the most recognizable art movements of the 20th century, Pop Art emerged in the 1960s in the United States, after initially being shaped in Great Britain a decade earlier. As indicated by the name of the movement itself, artists who developed this new style turned their attention from classic art techniques and began using common everyday objects to portray elements of popular American culture. The movement also became a new philosophy and artistic approach to life in general. Mass-produced visual images and objects from advertising, television and comic books became the center of attention of artists such as Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein, Tom Wasselmann and Andy Warhol.

As an inseparable part of human history, artistic expression always reflected the condition of human life at a given moment in time. Pop Art developed in the United States as a response to the wealth of the post WWII era and the growing materialism and consumerism in society. It also reacted to the sophisticated nature of Abstract Expressionism, eliminating the distinction between the commercial and fine arts. "By the time the 60s rolled around, almost every different style of art had been explored--Pop Art was something new," says Baterbys Orlando Gallery Manager, Darren Reiser. "It's something everyone can relate to. The artists reflect what's going on in the world in a simplistic way. You take something like Picasso's Guernica. It took weeks for him to paint the piece, it was very intensive and had a huge effect as a political statement. Warhol's Marilyn Monroe pieces are much less involved, however, and yet have had a massive, lasting influence. Pop Art showed that, like Warhol said, anything can be art."

Baterbys carries current Pop Artists like Peter Max and Charles Fazzino. Of Fazzino, Reiser says, "You could call Fazzino the 3D artist of Pop Culture. Almost everything he does is of cities, famous people or pop culture images."

Whenever we see a painting of a flag, product logo, soup can, comic strip or multiplied portrait of a celebrity, we immediately think of Pop Art. It may well represent one of the most iconic portrayals of American culture in its history.