Consumerism, materialism, fame and the media were among the fundamental concerns of Pop artists. With this introductory book, which features the work of 20 exponents of Pop Art, you will discover the ideas and aesthetics that gave shape to a decisive movement of modernity.

When the tacky, the banal and the commercial became art

Pop art, which reached its peak in the 1960s, emerged as a revolution against established conceptions of art and culture and ended up questioning all aspects of modern society, consumer culture, the role of the artist and what constitutes a work of art.

Focusing on themes such as materialism, fame and the media, Pop Art drew on sources from the consumer market, whether they were advertising images, comic books, famous Hollywood faces or commercial packaging, the latter epitomised by Andy Warhol's Campbell's soup cans. As well as challenging the establishment by extolling such popular, banal and kitsch images, Pop art deployed methods of mass production and blurred the role of the individual artist by adopting mechanised techniques such as screen printing.

Featuring artists such as Andy Warhol, Allen Jones, Ed Ruscha, Robert Indiana, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg and Roy Lichtenstein, this book presents the full scope and influence of a decisive modern movement.

About the author

Klaus Honnefes is honorary professor of photographic theory at the Kassel Academy of Art. He was one of the organisers of documenta 5 and documenta 6 in Kassel and has curated more than 500 exhibitions in Germany and abroad.

• Pages: 96
• Language: English
• Author: Klaus Honnef
• Year: 2019
• MODEL: 9783836523370

Publisher: Taschen