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Another strong contender in the world of Modern Art would be the famous artist Jasper Johns, who challenged the way that Americans looked at many commonplace items in our iconography.  For the fact that he often used many images from popular culture, Jasper Johns has often been classified as a Pop Artist, although this is not exactly the best classification for him.  A more appropriate label might be one of Neo-Dadaism, for the use of popular images, modern materials, and absurdism.  Johns, in his work, often aimed to make us look at the absurd qualities of many things that we as the American public took for granted.

Jasper Johns is potentially most well known for his painting Flag, which simply depicts a flag, painted heavily over found materials, such as crumpled up newspapers.  Found materials would play heavily into Johns’ work, as Johns would make a point of incorporating the world as it is into the pieces of art that he would produce.  Jasper Johns would commonly paint different maps and flags that were richly worked and detailed and often-evoked conflicting emotions in critics.  The art world seemed to be looking for something with the same emotional vulnerability and honesty as Abstract Expressionist works produced, yet having more subject matter and substance than simple painting which evoked an emotion on its own.  The work of Jasper Johns would provide that, both to the delight and the wrath of many.  His attention to detail and painting form was much more involved than the work of Abstract Expressionists, yet his subject matter was presented in an absurd way, making people feel that the process of painting the portrait conveys some of Johns’ thoughts on the matter.

His work has always been simple yet refined.  Johns has always carried the ability to inflict strong emotions in the viewers of his paintings, largely because of his unerring emotional honesty.  His work has clearly earned a place in art history.

Andy Warhol no doubt has a strong influence on the modern art movement as his works have become some of the classic definitions of what modern art stands for.  His 100 Soup Cans or Marilyn Diptych have taken an iconic place in art history, being easily identifiable as a Warhol piece by even the most casual of observers.  Some pieces, however, have placed more influence on modern art than any of the others and out of all of these, Marilyn Diptych perhaps more than any other.  In 2004, this Warhol piece was named the third most influential work of modern art in a survey conducted between 500 artists and art critics.

The piece was constructed in the four months following Marilyn Monroe’s untimely suicide in August of 1962.  Upon hearing the news of the star’s passing, Andy Warhol began to construct a work of art in dedication to her, which some have come to believe represents the mortality of her glamorous life.  50 images of the actress, all the same, were used in the construction of this piece in a grid of 5 rows and 10 columns.  The single image used was taken from a publicity photograph of Marilyn Monroe from the 1953 film Niagara.  The 25 images on the left hand side of the artwork are all in startling color, dramatized for a loud effect.  The 25 images on the left hand side of the piece are all in black and white, providing a stark contrast to the bright colors of the other side.

It has been postulated that Andy Warhol wanted to touch both upon the frailness of human life and the presence that celebrity can have in the everyday life.  Marilyn Monroe, by and large, was a household name and the repetitiveness of her image in Marilyn Diptych reinforces the fact that everyone knows who she was.  The color scheme reminds us all that she, like all of us, will eventually fade away and that as bright as we may be at one time in our lives, we will eventually fade to black as well.

Widely regarded to be one of the leading influences in the world of Pop Art, Roy Lichtenstein was a famous artist who helped to usher in the Pop Art period of the Modern Art movement.  His works were often incredibly stylistic, based on different panels, which he took from comic books and adapted into his paintings.  Lichtenstein felt that his work was not representative of American art, however, but was of a more industrial nature.  One of his aims was to find art where it already existed in the world and if the piece was particularly striking to him, to reproduce it through his own eyes, giving it his own interpretation and vision.  There are many critics out there who feel that Lichtenstein merely copied works of other artists, but this is simply not true.  By representing the image through his own eyes, with his own interpretation, Roy Lichtenstein makes a commentary on what exactly it is in art that speaks to us.

Born in New York City in 1923, Lichtenstein was exposed to art during his school years, at an early phase.  He took a quick interest and studied art all through his early school years.  He went to Ohio State University for its studio courses in fine arts, pausing partway through his studies to serve in the Army during World War II and after.  Later, upon graduation, he was granted an MFA and began teaching off and on, while working as a painter experimenting in Cubism, Expressionism, and Abstract Expressionism.

In 1960, he began to teach at Rutgers University and a fellow professor ignited his interest in Pop Art.  Lichtenstein began to make his paintings, using images that he derived from cartoons and commercial advertising.  His artworks as well as his technique are very expressive, as Lichtenstein often used Benday Dots to express color.  His paintings have since become highly recognizable, as they make bold statements about Pop Culture, often presenting their ideas through the image of pulp comic art.

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Roy Lichtenstein produced a number of works that he interpreted from various sources, many of them found within the pages of comic books.  These pieces have come to be known as a standard for Pop Art, seeing one will immediately evoke thoughts of Pop Culture and the place where it stands in our society.  There are any numbers of Lichtenstein pieces, which can do this, but Drowning Girl seems to be one of the most identifiable and beloved pieces of the general public today.

The piece is popular both because it is colorfully and texturally rich, as well as the content.  The image, in which a young, beautiful woman is sinking under the water during what appears to be a turbulent storm, thinks to herself that she would rather drown than call for Brad to come help her.  The image is humorous because of the statement that it makes about drama in our culture.  The situation is ludicrous with someone preferring death out of feelings of spite.  However, this is a situation that one would all too easily find in the dramatic presentations of the day.  Drowning Girl serves as a statement about Pop Culture, both the ridiculousness as well as the entertaining, melodramatic quality about it.

Lichtenstein put a great deal of effort into the mechanics of the painting as well.  He took liberties with the original piece, which depicted the boyfriend clinging to a capsized boat in the background as well as different text.  By narrowing in heavily on the drowning girl and slightly changing the words in her thought bubble, Lichtenstein was able to take the one particular element of the original drawing and place all emphasis on the melodrama of the situation.  Additionally, Lichtenstein made heavy use of Benday dots, a form of coloring, which was also frequently used in comic books.  By using these strong colors and textures to highlight the melodrama of the situation, Lichtenstein ensured that Drowning Girl would remain an excellent example of Pop Art.

“Life is full of dead spots. Art gives it life”

This quote was said by Irwin Edman, a 20th century philosopher. He mentioned that artists have a way of making life come alive and have been able to do so through time. Art history is full of icons of every type and nature. They can come in the form of images of Christ or the Virgin Mary or even an icon like “Campbells Tomato Soup Cans” by Andy Warhol. Icons let us connect with culture, nature, our own humanity, our inner self, and our religion.

When an artist gives meaning to a symbol or an image (an icon) then it acquires a certain value to society and to history and mankind.  To an artist the icons he takes on represent a part of himself or of the world he lives in, just as Jesus was a part of the world El Greco lived in and “Campbells Soup” was an icon of the world of Andy Warhol. What makes an icon up to a society depends on the societies beliefs, their tradition, and what they find value in, and these will differ depending on age group and on country.

Today much of our contemporary art stems from Pop culture and pop art which originated in the United States in the sixties. The purpose in making contemporary art more pop culture related and less abstract, is based on the idea of making a works message more easily understood by society.

Pop culture and art began by integrating popular items of our times into art forms. Most were either paintings or in the form of sculpture. The first items that were integrated into the pop art movement were tires, flags, maps, stuffed animals and even targets. The movement started as a way to get away from the dullness that modern abstract painting began to take on. It was a way of looking at pop culture sarcastically, a way of mocking our modern world.

Much later media advertisement and TV were integrated into the pop movement. Although pop culture and art became popular, it did not supplant the contemporary movement as its original plan was, but instead became an additional movement within modern painting. Today the pop art movement has become an important element of the modern painting era.

Most pop artists use modern day images, instances and people as their sources of inspiration. These then get re-interpreted as other forms in a pop art painting. What’s interesting is that in the later years, the work initiated by these painters were widely used in the advertising and marketing industry. For example, the coca cola bottle shape is still a mark of sensuality and represents a world of escapism and fantasy.

As far as the pop art scene in America goes, food seems to have been given a central importance. It represents a major outlet for spending income, while also doubling as a leisure and fun time activity. Thus, the emphasis on bottle feeding as opposed to breast feeding in America! From French fries, to burgers, cakes and beer – food has remained an all time favorite inspiration with American pop culture portrait artists.

Pop art is an abbreviation of the terms Popular & Art. Pop art was born as a rebellion against existing painting forms, especially against abstract paintings because of its sophisticated nature. It was an attempt to bring art back into American daily life. To do so, pop art used popular brands, which were a part of everyone’s life and were present in most American homes, and redefined them in the art world. This put art in terms of contemporary life.

In the earlier days, traditional paintings would be rewarded while these pop forms would be openly rejected. Pop art forms mainly aimed at doing away with the deep-rooted idealism of nature and everyday life. They perceived life and its happenings exactly as they were – without any pretension. It was this honesty which served to jolt most people in those times. Most of these rebellious portrayers served to showcase the modern day consumerism. With the advent of pop art this was soon replaced. In its stead came the celebration of materialism. The inspiration came from everyday objects, people and incidents. Thus these painters were able to create paintings which one could relate to more easily. The American artist Andy Warhol remains one of the greatest pop culture portrayers of all time, to this day.