The world goes pop (and people's jaws drop) - Tate Modern
Pop Art; two powerful words which have dominated the contemporary art scene. A movement developed in the 1950's and 60's capitalist America and Britain, revolving around the playful use of commercial and popular culture subjects within a Fine Art context. Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Richard Hamilton are a few of the artists that pop in one's mind with the mention of Pop Art. However Pop Art was not contained in Britain and America; it rather expanded globally like an air-born response towards political and cultural phenomena. The World Goes Pop presents a compilation of not so well-known Pop Art from around the globe and it makes people's jaws drop!
The 10 room exhibition contains exciting work of widely raging media, concepts and settings. Sporting red, pink and other flashing colours, the exhibition punches the spectator in the face with the dynamic arrangement of work, which manages to entertain whilst illuminating the socio-political drive of Pop Artists from around the world. The amount of work curated in each room is dangerously overwhelming, however indicative of the myriads of forms Pop Art has taken over the years.
Dorothée Selz, Relative Mimesis, 1973 © Dorothée Selz. MACBA Collection
One of my personal favourites, Dorothée Selz is an artist mimicking images from pinups through her work, using herself. Selz presents the resulting images of herself alongside the originals, both of which are framed in flamboyant red and pink d.i.y. frames. Naively emulating the sex-appeal poses of her counterparts, Selz journeys down body-art avenues exploring politics of the female body and sexuality. An artist whose works asks to be contextualised with Cindy Sherman's Untitled Film Stills.
Kiki Kogelnik, Hanging, 1970, Mixed Media with acrylic paint, sheer vinyl and hangers on canvas © Kiki Kogelnik Foundation Vienna/New York
Another interesting artist encountered in The World Goes Pop is Kiki Kogelnik, whose use of vinyl human form cut-outs makes a comment on the plasticity surrounding the contemporary human condition and the commoditisation of the human body.
Nicola L, Red Coat, 1969, Vinyl, elven slits and eleven hooded jackets © Nicola L.
Nicola L's work also captured my interest. Her Red Coat dressing eleven people is an effective mediator of unity through performative acts, since it strips the wearers from their gender, religion and ethnicity. The coat has been worn in a number of occasions and locations, advocating a peaceful communal existence.
The World Goes Pop offers an incredible opportunity for art enthusiasts to immerse themselves in a Pop-Art trance and witness how Pop Artists separated by oceans and vast amounts of land, have all managed to capture the effect popular culture has had on life - with their individual flare.
