the art collectors » Pop Will Eat Itself – Tate Modern’s New Exhibit Explores the Art of Branding

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

Pop Will Eat Itself – Tate Modern’s New Exhibit Explores the Art of Branding

Keith Haring – Pop Shop (Image: © Keith Haring artwork © Estate of Keith Haring. Photo: Charles Dolfi-Michels.)

The early pop-art that emerged in the late 50s and early 60s was as much a critique as it was a celebration of a new post WWII consumer culture hyped up by industry and government during the height of the Cold War. Since then, pop artists have taken their commentaries on capitalism beyond the incorporation of mass media imagery, employing modes of commercial production and sometimes becoming brands themselves. Pop Life: Art in a Material World, a new exhibition at Tate Modern, surveys pop artists of the last three decades who have embraced not only mass media, but mass production and commerce. The exhibit is highlighted by works from Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, selections from Damien Hirst’s self-promoted 2008 Sotheby’s auction, a newly commissioned installation by Takashi Murakami, and a recreation of Keith Haring’s NY Pop-Shop. The museum has also opened a special Pop Life Boutique, with select products available online.