Top of the Pops

1. Did Andy Warhol change everything? Top of the Pops

2. History of Pop Art • Emerged in Britain in 1950s • In America in late 1950s • Challenged traditions of “fine art” • Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, Poems, Music • Takes inspiration from mainstream America • Used images from pop culture • Advertising, News, Popular Photography, etc.

3. Andy Warhol • Born in Pittsburgh, PA in 1928 • Graduated as a pictorial designer • Became an illustrator in New York (1949) • Worked for an advertising company • Began exhibiting his art in the 1950s but did not go solo until 1962 • This is where his works gained fame

4. Andy Warhol Cont. • Created the “Factory” in 1962 • Worked night and day on his art • Used silk-screen to mass produce • Created the “Warhol Superstars” • Used to help him • Artworks • Films • Helped create legendary atmosphere of the Factory

5. Examples of Pop Art

6. After Warhol’s Attempted Assassination • Shot by Valerie Solanas in 1968 • He was never the same after that though • His artwork changed as well • Began his work in “business art” • Commissioned to do celebrity portraits; the majority of what he did after being shot • Never tried to be on the forefront of modern art again

7. Summary of Top of the Pops • Analyzes Andy Warhol’s life and many artworks • Discusses the reasoning behind Warhol’s pieces • Examines others’ critiques of his art and whether it can be considered art • Refers to both sides of the Pop Art debate • Danto vs. Greenberg

8. Significance of Andy Warhol • Warhol challenged traditional artistic beliefs • “He made movies of objects that never moved and used actors who could not act, and he made art that did not look like art.” • Ex: Duchamp’s ready-mades vs. Warhol’s work • “He was responding to Duchamp’s ready-mades by creating objects that only looked like ready-mades”

9. Video

10. Menand’s Message • Andy Warhol is one of the most important artists of the 20th century • “What made Warhol important was his challenge to the impurist tradition itself” • “Warhol looked at the players sitting around the table of the New York avant-garde, and he raised the ante.” • His methods not only affected the art world, but was also representative of the changing culture taking place in the 1960s

11. Questions • Many people say he founded Pop Art, while others say it happened without him. What do you think? • Do you think his pieces are actually art? • Did his pieces deserve the fame and attention they brought? • Does he deserve that fame and attention?

12. Do you think Warhol has any effect on art in the 2000s?