Modern pop art incorporates symbols and icons from everyday culture into its imagery to blur the distinctions between high art and commercial imagery. A common theme within this style was to poke fun at consumerism via advertising and other commercially produced materials; artists frequently chose to create works featuring famous film stars, celebrities or brands to demonstrate that art could come from anywhere.
Taken inspiration from the vibrant aesthetic of pop art, designers today are using this vibrant style to bring their brands and products to life. From NFTs to AR experiences, designers are using pop art shapes and colors to craft eye-catching digital compositions that attract attention while making a statement.
1. Jeff Koons
Koons has long been linked to various art movements, most notably Pop and Modernism. His use of popular consumer products for his Banality series draws upon Andy Warhol and Marcel Duchamp - who invented the readymade concept - in their concepts about readymades.
His works transcend unabashed kitsch to become high art. From sculptures of Michael Jackson and his pet chimpanzee to erotic paintings featuring Ilona Staller as his then-wife Ilona, his works explore celebrity, love, and desire.
His work has challenged art snobbery and persuaded top collectors to reconsider what constitutes "fine" art. Koons has inspired artists like Damien Hirst with his vivid depiction of an otherworldly space filled with lush surfaces; his art speaks directly to our desires - his bold paintings and sculptures speak our dreams!
2. Coco Davez
Coco Davez is an award-winning multidisciplinary artist (painting, photography, communication and art direction) who seamlessly merges abstraction with figuration in her vibrant artworks that explore art history as well as pop culture references. Her popular Instagram feed boasts her work which features bold colours and powerful symbolism which draws its inspiration from multiple sources across art history and popular culture.
Davez's Faceless series pays homage to cultural and historical icons by depicting them with pop portraiture techniques popularised by Andy Warhol. By leaving facial features blank for added playfulness, these paintings invite viewers to guess who the painting represents.
Davez belongs to the 2022 generation of Modern Pop artists, heavily influenced by early pioneers of the movement and poised to reshape it for future generations. She has collaborated with brands ranging from Chanel and Netflix and recently held her debut UK solo exhibition called Faceless at Maddox Gallery Westbourne Grove in London.
3. Orlinski
Richard Orlinski was born in Paris in 1966 and began making sculptures around 2004 with assistance from other talented artists and technicians. The artworks he produces with "Born Wild" as their motto reflect key components that define contemporary design that never succumb to garbage, excess, or temporaryity.
Richard Orlinski uses his hands to sublimate reality by crafting intricate works which transform mundane reality into stunning, vibrant works which stir emotion in viewers' hearts. Richard prefers contemporary materials like resin and aluminum but has used marble, stone and bronze before - always striving to produce works which move and uphold.
5. C215
Known by his street artist moniker C215, has quickly become one of the premier graffiti and street artists worldwide since debuting his vibrant stencils across cities worldwide in 2006. C215 draws inspiration from pioneers of urban art such as Ernest Pignon who advocate that street art should resonates with its surroundings by providing authentic experiences and taking up human and social issues head on head on!
6. Yayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama has made an immense mark on the art world as one of its modern artists, distinguished by her ability to blend conceptual art, feminism and pop art together into her unique signature style - drawing crowds of admirers to museums around the world.
7. Claes Oldenburg
Claes Oldenburg's sculptures were both beautiful and provocative, pushing boundaries and drawing attention to issues such as waste and consumerism. Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama's pieces stand out for their vibrant colours and whimsical themes.
Like many Pop artists, he uses ordinary or mass-produced objects and images to critique the fine art world's elitist tendencies. His sculpture explores beauty standards by depicting female models with lipsticked lips and manicured nails; while his paintings employ vibrant pop colours with block outlining techniques.
The Future of Pop Art
Modern pop artists were known for their simple messages, eschewing complex brush strokes and layers of paint in favor of bold swaths of primary colors often straight from cans or tubes - and embracing commercial advertising techniques such as silkscreening to celebrate mass production instead of handicraft.
Not to be misunderstood as meaning these artists lacked tradition or historical precedent - several, including Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, started out as commercial illustrators - which provided them with unique perspectives on life that allowed them to bridge high art with everyday (or mundane) images.
These artists celebrated postwar manufacturing growth and consumer culture, drawing inspiration from supermarket products, global icons such as Mao Zedong and Che Guevara and Mickey Mouse as well as everyday household objects such as soda cans and soap boxes - elevating these mundane objects to art status in order to break through commercialism's restrictions on creativity.
Many modern pop artists we love today still explore these themes in their work, often blurring the lines between high and low culture, while pushing the limits of what can be considered paintings or sculptures.
