Andy Warhol as Designer - Essay Example

A Case Study on Andy Warhol Number and Number Total Number of Words: 2,011 Abstract Andy Warhol – an American painter, printmaker and filmmaker earned the title “Pope of Pop Art” for playing an important role in establishing the concept of pop art back in 1960s. After working as a commercial illustrator during the post World War II, Warhol started promoting the importance of mass production of artistic work throughout the field of advertising industry. As part of Warhol’s success, Warhol’s contribution in the 20th century design was to transform the traditional way of painting artistic designs into publicly accepted mass production of commercial arts. By examining the professional career path of Warhol, this paper will also tackle issues regarding how his work has affected the postmodernism and mass culture. Pop art is classified as postmodernism type of art. As a pop artist, Warhol was capable of using different art techniques including: blotted-line ink style or monoprints, hand-painting with paint drips, silk-screens, oxidation paintings, and Rorschach blots among others. Because of his personal desire to become a successful business artist, Warhol eventually concentrated on the use of silk-screen in mass producing his work of art. Discussing the differences in the motivating techniques adopted by the modernist and postmodernist artists is useful in terms of determining how Warhol is unique from other famous artists. The personality of an artist could affect the art technique used in a given art design. Knowing that Warhol has a strong detachment over emotional feelings to his environment, it is easier on the part of the readers to understand the factors that triggered Warhol to come up with a creative way of reproducing a piece of art design. Introduction As part of the modern art movement which took place in England and America during the late 20th century, pop art involved using the popular imagery of the time as subject a matter for art. The movement was contemptuous and mocked many aspects of the modern world such as: comic strips, consumer products, and advertising through the use of celebrities (Alcaine, Kennan and Reid, p. 6). Andy Warhol – an American painter, printmaker and filmmaker earned the title “Pope of Pop Art” for playing an important role in establishing the visual art movement known as pop art (OnPostmodernism). With the purpose of attracting the attention of the masses rather than just for the upper class of society, pop art uses different images from the mass media and popular culture which completely changed the meaning and people’s perception of postmodern art. According to Warhol, “a coke is a coke and no amount of money can get you a better coke than the one a bum on the corner is drinking” (Martin). In line with this statement, this essay will focus on discussing how the works of Warhol affects postmodernism and mass culture in terms of convincing people from all walks of life to purchase the same product. As part of analyzing the contribution of Warhol to the 20th century design; the social, political, cultural, and professional context behind the works of Warhol will be examined thoroughly. After explaining the influential cultural themes, theories, and doctrines that were significant to the modernist and postmodernist movement, factors that motivated Warhol in composing the details of his design and the selection of design methodology will be identified. How the Works of Warhol Affects Postmodernism and Mass Culture As the leading figure in pop art, Warhol first adopted an art technique using loose blotted-line ink style or monoprints for I. Miller shoes back in 1950s when he started a career in a magazine company as an advertising illustrator (Art Experts, Inc.; Rosenberg; Stimson). Despite his ability to present the commercial drawings in details and with elegance using the blotted-line technique, his work-of-art was rejected by the prestigious Martha Jackson gallery when he tried to exhibit his commercial drawings using loose blotted-ink style (Art Experts, Inc.; Warhol, Michelson and Buchloh, Andy Warhol, p. 9). (See Figure I – Diamond Dust Shoes 1980 on page 10) The rejection he received when he tried to exhibit his previous work in a gallery made him adopt other forms of art techniques including: hand-painting with paint drips, silk-screens, oxidation paintings, and Rorschach blots among others (Art Experts, Inc.). Although Warhol shifted the subject of his artistic works from the advertising of American consumer products like Coca-Cola and Campbell’s soup in can to the paintings of famous American celebrities / artists, writers, musicians, and politicians like Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Jackson, and Mao Zedong; it is undeniable that most of his works were about the American culture (Art Experts, Inc.; Rosenberg). (See Figure II – Other Works of Warhol on page 11) With the purpose of improving artistic consumerism, Warhol’s decision to make use of silk-screen for mass production of commercial arts was a contributing factor that has thrown away the use of hand-made abstract expressionism in art materials (Art Experts, Inc.; Rosenberg; Warhol, Michelson and Buchloh, Andy Warhol, p. 9). This particular artistic strategy contributed a lot in changing the culture of American market. Since the post World War II era, the importance of using pop art materials for consumer culture, advertising, and iconography increased (Art of the 20th Century; Warhol, Michelson and Buchloh, Andy Warhol, p. 4). Because of Warhol’s obsession with money, fame, commercialism, and mass culture; he exerted extra effort to make a difference in the way commercial art is being perceived by the audiences. He made the differences by blurring clear distinction between art and popular culture. Contribution of Warhol to the 20th Century Design It is common for artists to make use of emotions and express their feelings into paintings and other form of artistic designs. However, this is not true in the case of Warhol. Having a different opinion with regards to the creative role of artists, Warhol preferred to disengage himself from any form of emotional attachments (Cresap, p. 224; Kamhi). Rather than sitting in one corner hand-painting a new subject, Warhol preferred to concentrate on searching for strategic ways that will enable him to become successful in mass producing his works of art. At the end of the twentieth century, there were significant changes in the American society with the mass consumption of goods spawned a new cultural era in art. In line with this, Warhol’s contribution to the 20th century design lies behind the idea of mass producing the work of art through mechanical production of repetitive works (Art of the 20th Century; Kamhi; Nigel, p. 47). Since then, America learned the importance of consumerism which enabled the poorest consumers buy essentially the same things as the richest. Since Warhol made it possible to mass produce art works within the shortest time possible, it is safe to conclude that Warhol was able to break-down the barriers between the traditional and non-traditional artists. Rather than spending large amount of money of a piece of art work, people can readily buy art works at a lesser costs. Likewise, the idea of consumerism also made the postmodernist artists able to determine whether or not they can be classified as modernist artists by examining the themes and styles used in their art work (Alton). Influential Cultural Themes, Theories, and Doctrines that were Significant to the Modernist and Postmodernist Movement Frederic Jameson – an American analyst of contemporary cultural trends considered pop art as postmodernism (Jameson, p. 111). Given that the contribution of Warhol in the art industry focuses on mass production of artistic designs, we can say that Warhol has influenced as a post modern artist can be considered as a revolt against the modernist artists (OnPostmodernism). Because of Warhol’s idea of mass producing a piece of art work, it is now possible to blow-up the size of existing piece of art up to five or ten times the original size of a painting. The theory behind Warhol’s idea of mass production is similar to the concept used in the entire American economy. Through mass production, people can buy the basic commodities at a much cheaper price. Similar to some of Warhol’s work of art, most of the mass-produced paintings like the Marilyn Monroe, the public consumers could readily buy the paintings at a more affordable price. There is a significant difference between the attitude of modernists and postmodernists when it comes to art work. As a postmodernist artist, Warhol would reflect a “don’t care attitude” primarily because of the way he grew up as a child (Warhol, p. 112). On the contrary, modernist artist such as in the case of Pablo Picasso is more emotional who is concern on how one perceives an artist or simply concern on what is happening around the world (R. Martin, p. 175). In other words, Warhol does not require emotional attachment to his surroundings in order to produce a piece of art work whereas most of modernist artists such as Picasso needs to have a strong engagement with other people in order to come up with strong desire to create an art. Since most of the post modernist artists like Warhol prefers to disengage from any forms of emotional attachment to their surroundings, it is easier for Warhol to work in a market-driven economy that is normally controlled by corporate values. This makes the works of Warhol known as the American culture and consumerism in a form of art. Factors that Motivated Warhol in Composing the Details of His Design and the Selection of Design Methodology Started working as advertising illustrator, Warhol was using an art technique called blotted-line in style or monoprints. Since he was not allowed to exhibit his works of art using this technique, he decided to adopt other forms of art techniques including: hand-painting with paint drips, silk-screens, oxidation paintings, and Rorschach blots among others (Art Experts, Inc.). The personal desire of Warhol of becoming a business artist made him gain a strong desire to succeed in mass producing art work. In line with this, he stated that “business art is the step that comes after Art. I started as a commercial artist, and I want to finish as a business artist” (Warhol, Michelson and Buchloh, Andy Warhol, p. 6). The fact that Warhol was working for in advertising industry made him realize the importance of consumerism. In order for him to be able to mass produce a piece of art material, he discovered the use of silk-screen technology. Since then, Warhol was known for using commercial silk-screening techniques to create identically mass-produced images on canvas. To create a different impression and look, Warhol decided to mix-and-match the use of different color and tone to make the same portrait look different from one another. Conclusion One of the most significant difference between modernist and postmodernist artists is that a modernist artist are most likely to make use of emotional attachment with other people or their environment in order to be able to express their feelings on a canvas whereas postmodernist artist such as in the case of Warhol does not require emotional attachment for the reason that his concern is purely to search for ways on how to mass produce his art works. As the “Pope of Pop Art”, Warhol is totally different from other post modernist artists in the sense that he is the first to promote the importance of mass production of commercial art works. In line with this, Warhol affected the postmodernism and mass culture by making the concept of mass production of art works widely accepted not only by professional artists but also the public consumer and advertising agencies. In line with the use of silk-screen technology, Warhol made it possible of the public consumer to easily avail commercial art works at a very affordable price. Since then, Warhol became famous for using pop art materials for advertising and iconography purposes. Specifically the strong personal desire of Warhol to become a successful business artist motivated him to take full advantage of using the silk-screen technology. As a result of his achieving his greatest dream of becoming a business artist, Warhol became successful in terms of publicly promoting the importance of consumerism in domestic and international market. *** End *** Figure I – Diamond Dust Shoes 1980 Source: Art Experts, Inc. Figure II – Other Works of Warhol Source: Art Experts, Inc.; Art of the 20th Century Bibliography / References Alcaine, Kathy, Tracy Kennan and Allison Reid. "New Orleans Museum of Art." Pop Art, Op Art and Minimalism: Late 20th century american art from NOMAs collection. . Alton, Georgia. "eHow." 12 September 2009. The History of Postmodernism. 26 October 2010 . "Art Experts, Inc." 2010. Andy Warhol (1928-1987). 26 October 2010 . "Art of the 20th Century." n.d. Art of the 20th Century. Postwar Developments & Contemporary Art. 26 October 2010 . Cresap, Kelly M. Pop trickster fool: Warhol performs naivete. University of Illinois Press, 2004. Jameson, Frederick. in Hal Foster, Postmodern Culture. Pluto Press, 1985. Kamhi, Michelle Marder. "Aristos." 2010. Modernism, Postmodernism, or Neither? A Fresh Look at "Fine Art". 26 October 2010 . Martin, Andrew. "The New York Times." 27 May 2007. Coke Struggles to Keep Up With Nimble Rivals . 26 October 2010 . Martin, Russel. Picasso’s War, The Destruction of Guernica, and The Master Piece That Changed The World. NY: Dutton, Penguin Putnam Inc., 2002. Nigel, Wheale. Postmodernism: from Elite to Mass Culture. The Postmodern Arts: An Introductory Reader. London: New Fetter Lane, 1995. "OnPostmodernism." 2010. Overview of Postmodern Art. 26 October 2010 . Rosenberg, Jennifer. "About.com: 20th Century History." 2010. Andy Warhol. 26 October 2010 . Stimson, Blake. "Warhols Red Beard." The Art Bulletin (2001): Vol. 83, No. 3 (Sept. 2001), pp. 527-547. Warhol, Andy. The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (from A to Z and Back Again). NY: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1975. Warhol, Andy, Annette Michelson and B.H.D. Buchloh. Andy Warhol. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2001. Read More