Monday, July 29, 2013

‘When Britain Went Pop!’

‘When Britain Went Pop! is the title of a proposed exhibit that will explore the early revolutionary era of the fledgling British Pop Art movement. Incidentally, the show will unveil Christie's new space in Mayfair.  This is the first comprehensive showcase of British Pop Art to be held in London. A press release states: “It aims to show how Pop Art began in Britain and how British artists such as Richard Hamilton, Peter Blake, David Hockney, Allen Jones and Patrick Caulfield irrevocably shifted the boundaries between popular culture and fine art, leaving a legacy both in Britain and abroad.”

A key feature of the exhibition by Christie’s, in association with Waddington Custot Galleries to be staged in October 2013 is a collaboration with the artists associated with the Pop Art movement and their families, and collectors lending works of British Pop Art from their collections. These include:

Gerald Laing's ‘Lincoln Convertible’

Richard Hamilton’s ‘Swingeing London, Peter Blake’s Everly Wall’

Colin Self’s ‘Leopardskin Nuclear Bomber No. 1’

Allen Jones’ ‘First Step’

Other artists exhibited in the show include Clive Barker, Pauline Boty, Derek Boshier, Antony Donaldson, Patrick Caulfield, Jann Haworth, R.B. Kitaj, Gerald Laing, David Hockney, Nicholas Monro, Peter Phillips, Eduardo Paolozzi, Joe Tilson, and Richard Smith.

British Pop Art was last explored in depth in the UK in 1991 as part of the Royal Academy’s survey exhibition of International Pop Art. This exhibition seeks to bring a fresh engagement with an influential movement long celebrated by collectors and museums alike, but many of whose artists have been overlooked in recent years.

‘When Britain Went Pop!’ looks at an era not only of ground-breaking artists but also of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Swinging 60s. A multimedia and diverse movement, British Pop Art was vividly documented in Bryan Robertson, John Russell and Lord Snowdon’s seminal book from 1965, Private View: The Lively World of British Art, and the catalogue will also illustrate a selection of Lord Snowdon’s original photographs from the book, as well as the film ‘Pop goes the Easel’ and other contextual material to bring this period to life.

No comments:

Post a Comment