Art History : Expressionism and Pop Art

Requirement

Moving toward the present day in our Art History timeline, the ability to ‘name’ the art period becomes more difficult; however, art historians have come to settle on the term Modernism. Not only is the period difficult to categorize, but the artworks from the roughly 1907-present day are also so wide-ranging, it is impossible to pinpoint how different art genres exactly relate to one another. Yet, they are connected by the social conditions in which they exist and are responses to that conditionsâ €” though they respond in very different ways. In postwar America (WWII), New York City becomes the art capital of the world and two artistic genres emerged: first Abstract Expressionism and second Pop Art. Both art genres were grappling with the question of ‘what is art’ and how to represent a world shaped by global capitalism, consumer culture, and mass media. In this Case Assignment, you will be comparing Abstract Expressionist Jackson Pollock’s One: Number 31 with Pop Artist Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans. Pollock can be read as championing ‘the role of the artist’ as his art seems a pure abstraction of his body movements and his handling of the paintbrush; whereas Warhol seems to not have any real connection to the making of his art, as he upholds the everyday, mass-produced object as subject matter for high art. Use the required course materials to help you discuss, briefly, (1) the history of Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art and these two artists in particular, (2) the ways these artists represent the tension between individualism and mass production (a tension that defines American capitalist society), and (3) how the artworks approach questions as to the role of the artist and the role of art in society.It is important to note that this assignment is your last encounter in thinking and writing about Art History and Art Criticism, so this is your chance to let your visual literacy shine; you will need it in order to analyze pure abstraction. The required course materials under “How To Write About Art: Art Criticism and Formal Analysis” will continue to be an essential reference here.

Assignment Expectations

Here are five keys to writing a great Case Assignment! For each Case in this course, please:

1.Make sure you fully address the case assignment prompt- don't just describe the painting and don’t forget to ‘really look’ at the painting. Be sure to respond to the expectations stated under "Learning Outcomes" in the Syllabus.
2.Apply ideas from the background readings to your analysis and discussion of the case assignment prompt.
3.Write, at minimum, three to four pages, not including images or references.
4.Include a separate cover page that includes your name, the course name, the module, and assignment name.
5.Set your format to 1" margins on all four sides, 12-point font, double-spaced.
Include a separate cover AND reference page at the end that includes every website and article on which you base your information and analysis. In the reference list, please note that a URL with no additional information is not a complete reference. Over time, link root will make any URL useless. Each reference should contain all the information a reader would need to find the source.
In this Case Assignment, you will:
•Give an explanation of the values—influences, themes, techniques, subjects—characteristic of the period or style under study.
•Give some information about how the social, political, or religious history of the period influenced its art and artists.
•Provide biographical information about the artist whose work is assigned or (in SLP assignments) chosen for reflection.org/vations of a few stylistic elements to produce a convincing argument.

Comparing Abstract Expressionist Jackson Pollock’s One: Number 31 with Pop Artist Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans.

Solution

The history of Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art and the artists 

Abstract expressionism was an art movement in the American painting after the World War 2. This originated in New York in the 1940’s. The aim of this movement was to achieve international influence and place the city of New York at the center of the western art world (Cockroft, 2013). The artists of the Abstract Expressionism were influenced by the leftist politics of the era and they valued the art that was grounded in the personal experience. The artists in this period were mostly avant-gardists who were outspoken, and they protested from the margins. The subjects that were picked in the Abstract Expressionism were related to social realism and the Regionalist movement (Cockroft, 2013). 

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One of the artists of this period was Jackson Pollock. The artist explored the Abstract Expressionism via the action pieces and the splatter. The painter poured the paint and the other media onto the canvases directly. The liquid paint was introduced by him in the year 1936 (O’Hara, 2015). Number 31 is a three wall-size painting made by Pollock that represent tension in the landmark in the history of Abstract Expressionism. 

Pop Art was another art movement that began in the mid-1950's in Britain and in late 1950’s in the US. The main characteristic of this art was that the material was visually separated from the known context and it was combined with some other material that was not related to it (The Art Story, 2016). This art was influenced by the mass culture of advertising, comic books or the other cultural objects that were mundane. The technique used in the Pop Art was the usage of the images of the popular art culture and the banal, and the kitschy elements of the culture were emphasized. This is done by using the irony. The techniques that the artists use here are the mechanical means of rendering and reproduction.   

Andy Warhol’s Campbell was born in 1928 in Pittsburgh. He was an illustrator of magazine and ads. There were many art forms where he ventured like the filmmaking, installations of the videos, the performance art etc. the artist burred the lines between the fine art and the mainstream aesthetics in a controversial way(Biography.com, 2016). The soup cans painted by him rely on themes from popular culture. They helped to usher in pop art as a major art movement in the United States.

The ways these artists represent the tension between individualism and mass production 

The artist Jackson Pollock invented the action painting in which the paintings were made by applying the paint to the canvas by placing it on the floor.  The canvas was placed in very different ways like the artist dripped the canvas, squeezed it, splashed paint, used syringes, cutting methods, etc.  to do the painting. He even rode a bicycle over the painted canvas  (O’Hara, 2015). This shows that the artists used his own original ways and self-expression to paint the canvass and his paintings represented individualism in a unique way. 

But, Warhol replaced the tradition of the fine art that was built around uniqueness, self-expression, and individuality. In place of this, he created an art where the looks, methods and the logic of the mass production and mass media were applied to the artwork. The artwork often depicted those products that were mass-produced like the soup cans. There are 32 soup cans in his artwork that show that these are produced in bulk.  He believed that success of the art is a gimmick and by using the vibrant colors and attractive depictions, the painting or the artwork can become popular (Ketner, 2013). This is how Jackson Pollock and Warhol represent the tension between individualism and mass production.The artworks approach questions as to the role of the artist and the role of art in society

As per Warhol, the role of art is to make the people feel more retro than revolutionary. So, he used many colors and depictions in his work. Art helps in exploring the relationship between expressions, culture, and advertisements and connect the people to the rest of the world. 
But, Pollock believed that art was all about developing the radical; abstract styles in which the line from the color is detached, the categories of drawing and paintings are redefined, and new means are found to create the pictorial space. The role of the artist is to give a new perspective to the people of making the painting like the artist makes the paintings by placing the canvas on the floor. 

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References:

  • The Art Story.(2016). Pop Art Movement, Artists and Major Works. [online] Available at: http://www.theartstory.org/movement-pop-art.htm [Accessed 2 Nov. 2016].

  • Biography.com. (2016). [online] Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/andy-warhol-9523875 [Accessed 2 Nov. 2016].

  • Cockroft, E., 2013. Abstract expressionism, the weapon of the Cold War.

  • Ketner, J.D. and Warhol, A., 2013. Andy Warhol.

  • O’Hara, F., 2015. Jackson Pollock. Pickle Partners Publishing.

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