Andy Warhol and the Boundaries of Pop Art

Introduction: From Abstract Expressionism to Pop Art

In the middle part of the 20th century, Abstract Expressionism ruled the visual arts scene with a sense of serious experimentation that was, in its own way, very constraining. The next generation of artists would appeal to the media of popular culture as a way to simultaneously liberate themselves from the prejudices of Expressionism and to broaden the palette of commercial art. Turning concepts such as mass consumerism, the commoditization of mankind, and general materialism into pointed philosophical statements, the so-called Pop Art movement would significantly change both the visual presentation and intended meaning of the work dominating the scene in the late 1950s and early 1960s. As the research shows, this was a genuine transition: "In the later 1950s, Abstract Expressionism, which had controlled the trend of art for about ten years, ceded to a generation of artists who experienced popular media — they were artists of Pop Art."

Where Abstract Expressionism was identified with mercurial figures such as Jackson Pollock, famous for the shapeless splatter paintings that define his genre, Pop Art is more commonly associated with figures such as Andy Warhol (1928–1987), who helped popularize the theory that forms of visual expression often dismissed as commercial design were in fact a valid form of artistic expression. Pop Artists proceeded from the notion that the differentiation between fine art and commercial art is a socioeconomic prejudice that inflates the value of patrician visual expression over more popular forms. In demonstration of this belief, Warhol made himself the center of historical and artistic debate by using commercial icons, images, and media to provide commentary on society.

Different Ideas About the Essence of Art

Like the Expressionists before him, Warhol attempted to create a new use for art. In many ways, this represented a more democratic way of looking at artistic expression. Warhol perceived art as a profession that required financial compensation — not just for himself, but for purveyors of visual arts throughout history. It was only through the patronage of the wealthy that "fine artists" had been elevated in their compensation. To Warhol, this excluded the common person both from the creation and from the ownership of appealing artwork. He therefore determined to democratize the form by creating works that could be mass produced. In this way, the earning potential for the artist would be raised while the cost to the appreciator could be lowered.

It is understood that Warhol was well versed in the principles of classical art but philosophically rejected them. According to his biography, "it is firmly true that although Warhol studied Fine Art in Pittsburgh, he was quite interested in advertising and its mechanisms even as a student." Despite being a successful commercial illustrator, he wanted to create new work using mass-produced methods — specifically, the silk-screen process — and chose to draw on the necessities of life in the mass-produced era. In doing so, Andy Warhol forged a new perspective combining both "art" and design.

Andy Warhol: Creating and Trying New Things

One of Warhol's distinguishing features was his boldness of concept. Though he absorbed the lessons of the Abstract Expressionists and his own classical education, these formed a counterpoint as he sought to introduce new ideas to the field. He succeeded in doing so — not merely by drawing on the media and images of material culture for his expression, but by adopting its mass-production logic through the mechanized silk-screening that helped spread his images prolifically through 1960s New York. Indeed, Warhol commanded his own scene where the novelty of his ideas flourished, with his studio becoming "a favored meeting place for the artists, actors, dropouts, and photographers that Warhol knew, as well as for other members of the glitterati."

In the studio, a great volume of work was produced. Warhol expressed images of canned goods and Coca-Cola — ordinary products rendered as repetitive, reproducible imagery. John Coplans observed that "the money, Coke, airmail and S&H stamps, glass label, and Campbell's soup can paintings enforce the issue of multiplicity of the image itself, which as a motif is endlessly repeated."

Conclusion: Warhol's Lasting Legacy

The dismissal of Warhol's art, as well as of commercial design in a more general sense, is a philosophical and economic prejudice that overlooks the duality of his message. Indeed, Warhol broke down the boundary between fine art and commercial art, revealing the distinctions between them as the invocation of false hierarchies. As both an artist and one of the great marketing ideologues in history, Andy Warhol changed the course of artistic dialogue and broadened the scope of what can be appreciated on its artistic merits without being discredited by its commercial context. His legacy endures as proof that the line between art and commerce was always more porous than the art establishment cared to admit.

Bibliography

Bauer, Claudia. Andy Warhol. New York: Prestel, 2004.

Coplans, John. Andy Warhol. England: The Curwen Press, 1989.

Kinsman, Jane. "Soup Can Mania." Artonview, no. 49 (2007): 38–39.

Ratcliff, Carter. Andy Warhol. New York: Abbeville Press, 1983.

Revy, Louisiana. Andy Warhol and His World. Nykredit, 2000.