Pop art movement began in the mid 1950s in Britain and in the late 1950s in the united states. It was a visual art movement which dealt with the use of mass produced popular visual products but placed in the view of fine art. Pop art uses object isolation in conjunction with other objects to create art which can then be thought of differently, due to its new surroundings or use of colour. Pop art draws upon popular culture, like comic books, advertising and everyday items.

Just what is it that makes today’s homes so different, so appealing


Richard Hamilton collage is seen as one of the first pieces of pop art and has reached iconic status. Its depiction of a mass produced items, carefully orientated to make it fit Hamilton’s room. The image was built up of pictures that were of relevant to the world that Hamilton saw in 1956, using pictures as a reference to the changing world of popular culture. This dealt with the new visual influx of magazines, advertising and media portrayed images of what the perfect home should be.




Pop life at the Tate modern looks at the idea of art as good business. It explorers Andy Warhol’s later work from the 1980s and how artists have created personas to build their own brands. Some of the artists in this exhibition are Jeff Koons, Keith Haring, Richard Prince, Martin Kippenberger and Damien Hirst. The overall effect of this can be seen as a group of artists who have one thing in common: they think of art as a commodity which they create to sell. The show looks at the commercialisation of art over the last 30 years. To sell your art you have to sell yourself by all means necessary or so it may seem. One Andrea Fraser went as far as to sell her body for one night to a collector so that they might conjugate into a piece of art.



Jeff Koons was born in 1955 and started his meteoric rise in the 1980s. He took contemporary American iconography and turned it into controversial high art. Signature work by Koons are simple imagery transformed into sculptures using some of the finest materials. An early work of Koons was his balloon ‘rabbit’ in 1986 which was made from stainless steel. The sculpture depicts an inflatable bunny but has a highly polished surface, this allows a fun house mirror view of its surroundings. The bunny resembles retro air brush art of the American 1960s with its clean rounded curves and metallic surface.

Jeff koon’s made in heaven suite features a statue of himself and his wife making love on the rocks. This can be seen as selling yourself in the most basic form although I thought that it showed just how shallow an artist can be. His use of pornographic material to make works of art was to cleverly increase his notoriety without being seen as degrading women, since his wife was the subject.


Keith Haring’s pop shop has been authentically recreated. This shop was used to sell t-shirts, baseball caps and posters imprinted with signature drawings of baking dogs and crawling babies. He used silk screen printing taken from the retail and fashion industry and turned it into art. This allowed art to be sold direct to the public and not from some fancy auction house. The idea delighted Keith Haring who believed that art should be available to everyone - that it should not be just for rich collectors. Haring’s philosophy was to continue communication between a wide range of people. His work is well known for its cartoonist quality , shaped by bold lines and vivid colours.




Damian Hirst who is probably one of the most successful commercial artists of all time and is represented by a selection of work sold at Sotheby’s. Damian Hirst central theme in his works is death and became famous for a series of dead preserved animals. One of these was on display at the Tate modern - False idol which is a calf preserved in formaldehyde. What springs to mind from this piece of art is thou shall not worship false gods but I’m sure that Damian Hirst bank balance would disagree. Although some may find this distasteful, I found that the look on the calf to be one of perfect sleep that can only be known by the finality of death.

Takashi Murakami had a featuring wall print, Giant Magical Princess! She’s walking down the streets of Akihabaral. This was a very Manga styled painting , showing a giant blue haired female sitting on top of a building in a large street scene. This was a very distinctive to Japan and the style of art used in Japan which fitting in perfect with his statue Hiropo. The statue is a life size manga female cutie with enormous breasts and a tiny waist skipping.