The largest survey of pop art
to be shown in Australia, Pop to Popism at the Art Gallery of New South Wales
highlights how the movement continues to influence contemporary art today
Pop art created some of the
most recognisable works of art in the world, from Andy Warhol’s soup cans to
Roy Lichtenstein’s Look Mickey. Yet many aspects of the pop movement have gone
under the radar, such as the Australian artists who worked in bold ways ahead
of their time, and the female artists whose work had to dramatically push
boundaries to compete with the men. By looking beyond the iconic works and
allowing these lesser known elements to come forward, the Art Gallery of New
South Wales’ latest exhibition Pop to Popism, part of Destination NSW’s Sydney
International Art Series, tells the story of a language ¬– not just an art
movement – that is still widely used today.
When pop art emerged in the
early 1960s it transformed how audiences understood art. As a reaction to the
gestural and painterly styles of abstract expressionism, and with the
introduction of mass media, artists wanted to create more accessible work
relevant to everyday life. They turned towards communications, advertising,
television, film and comic books as materials to reflect these changes and the
impact of technology in a rapidly evolving world.
“Pop artists were saying –
actually, let’s look at real life. Let’s look at how people are actually
living, let’s look at the popular culture that’s all around us, and bring that
into the art gallery”, describes Wayne Tunnicliffe, curator of Pop to Popism.
The exhibition begins with the
vibrant emergence of pop art in the early sixties and continues geographically
and chronologically. Swinging London looks at artist groups such as The
Independent Group that included Eduardo Paolozzi and Richard Hamilton, and
aimed to revitalise art in the postwar era. Classic American pop art features
the famous works of Ed Ruscha and Robert Rauschenberg, and the European
movement presents works by Sigmar Polke and Gerhard Richter. Australian pop is
a significant part of the exhibition, with artists including Richard Larter and
Robert Boynes. Late pop art includes work made in the early to mid seventies,
like Duane Hanson’s Woman with Laundry Basket, which begin to reflexively look
back at the pop culture as defining a lifestyle.
The exhibition finishes on
Popism, a term which reflects the values of pop art that have continued to
influence contemporary art, particularly the methods of mechanical
reproduction, the un-expressionist style, and the emergence of art that
combines media. The merging of art forms, with an emphasis on appropriation and
remix, brings into focus the idea of pop as a language, with its trademark
values of borrowing material from modern everyday life.
Throughout the exhibition there
is a particular focus on demonstrating the strength of female artists at the
time with works by artists such as Niki de Saint Phalle, Rosalyn Drexler,
Martha Rosler and Vivienne Binns. “Any female artist in the 1960s had to be
pretty tough to compete with the men, so they often did quite tough work as
well”, Tunnicliffe points out.
Tunnicliffe believes now is the
perfect moment to look back at where pop art came from. “To think what
relevance it has now and to put Australian artists into that context, because
there’s never been a pop survey to show Australian artists with their
international peers before.”
The Australian pop artists
reacted to many of the same things as their international counterparts, but
were much bolder when it came to pushing social boundaries.
“Australian pop is often quite
erotic, there’s quite a strong hedonistic sexual element” says Tunnicliffe. Pop
artists such as Martin Sharp and Mike Brown were among those charged with
obscenity over references in their works: Sharp’s involvement in the cover art
of underground OZ magazine in 1964, and Brown’s Paintin’ a-go-go exhibition in
1965, were both anti-establishment reactions against the art market.
“Australia was intensely
socially conservative during that period and the artists were amongst those
pushing against it, trying to bring about greater liberalization.”
While the retrospective gives
context, a significant part of the exhibition is also a reminder of how the
language of pop art is used today. Tunnicliffe points to the work of many
contemporary Aboriginal artists such as Richard Bell, Tracey Moffatt and Tony
Albert, who explore race in similar ways to how Australian artists from the
sixties, such as Sharp and Brown, were using pop art to oppose conservative social
issues.
“I think the language of pop
has stayed with us. It seems to have another zeitgeist moment, there’s pop
material turning up all over the place.”
So while the soup cans and
comic books may be what get people into the gallery this summer, there’s
another narrative to explore – one that’s more gritty, unexpected, and closer
to home.
Pop to Popism at the Art
Gallery of New South Wales is part of Destination NSW’s Sydney International
Art Series.