In the mid-1950s, the United Kingdom and the United States began to respond culturally with the gestation of what we know as the Pop Art movement. The “This is Tomorrow” exhibition held in 1956 at the Whitechapel Gallery in London probably marked the beginning of a movement that reached its peak in the 1960s, mainly in the United States. An artistic response to the traditional and elitist standards that had been developing in the art world in previous decades and that turned the sector into an inaccessible space for many emerging artists. Pop Art emerged in the midst of the consumer era, leading thousands of corners in the streets to become advertising spaces for brands that established themselves as icons of consumer freedom, bringing with them mass advertising. Brands such as McDonalds, Campbell's, Ford, Kellogg's or Marlboro became not only symbols of “social liberation”, but also key compositional elements for Pop Art.
Embracing this context – mass culture, advertising, cinema and its new Hollywood stars and commercial production – Pop Art had as its primary objective to break with figurative and traditional art, taking risks not only with the introduction of elements from everyday products, but also rethinking and reinventing once again the meaning of what art is or can come to mean. A reflection typical of Dadaism and which Marcel Duchamp carried out in the 1920s.
Although this movement is commonly associated with figures such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Richard Hamilton, women played a crucial role in the establishment and growth of the movement.
Visual object or propellants?
One of the most fascinating aspects of Pop Art is its representation of women as visual and cultural objects. Many of the most iconic works of this movement explore the female figure, whether through advertising, fashion or comics. However, in most cases, these representations reduce women to stereotypes or passive figures, as in Andy Warhol's portraits of Marilyn Monroe.
Despite this treatment, female artists within the movement articulated a complex and critical response to this objectification. Many used art as a means of reflecting on gender roles, sexuality and the social perception of women, as although art has historically been dominated by men, in Pop Art some women managed to find their space, creating works that reflected both the tensions of their time and their personal experiences.
From a curatorship of color, we leave you some artists so you can better understand the figure of women in the movement:
Evelyne Axell (Belgium. 1935 - 1972)
Evelyne Axell, Le Mur du son, 1966, © ADAGP, Paris
Evelyne Axell, Le Beau Châssis, 1967, 100 x 100 cm, © ADAGP, Paris.
Evelyne Axell, Érotomobile, 1966, 150 x 150 cm, © ADAGP, Paris
Marisol Escobar (Venezuela. 1930 - 2016)
"Paris Review" (1967) by Marisol Escobar. Perez Art Museum Miami
Lucia Marcucci (Italy. 1933 - )
Lucia Marcucci, poesia è del poet [Poem to a poet], 1990, arcylic on canvas, 147 x 146 cm, Courtesy Frittelli Arte Contemporanea, © Photo- Claudia Cataldi, © ADAGP, Paris 2021
Lucia Marcucci, Donna incinta [Pregnant woman], 1970, collage and mixed technique on board, 50 x 35 cm, Courtesy Frittelli Arte Contemporanea, © Photo- Claudia Cataldi, © ADAGP, Paris 2021
Renate Bertlmann (Austria. 1943 - )
Renate Bertlmann, Tender Touches, 1976–2009, photograph on aluminium, 95.5 x 97 cm, © ADAGP, Paris
