Topic > A critique of the commercial world in the works of Richard Hamilton

The 1950s saw a significant rise in commercialism and mass culture. The world was becoming increasingly superficial, and artists like Richard Hamilton used art to analyze and criticize the commercial world. Using text and images Richard Hamilton addressed the common person, bridging the gap between everyday life and high art. However, he was still able to create controversial works that comment on the modern world. The world was created by nature, however in the 1950s everything was created by man. The commercial world had emerged, causing an increase in mass production and popular culture. The economy began to recover and it was boom time. War technologies were transformed into household appliances and these mass-produced products were advertised. Television, radio, magazines, billboards, neon signs, bright, bold, eye-catching colors were everywhere. Thanks to new technologies there has been an increase in film production, celebrity culture and Hollywood. The world was changing rapidly and artists had to respond. Richard Hamilton helped form Pop Art and an art movement that commented on the superficiality of the commercial world. Pop Art originated in England and began with a group of young British artists, architects and critics. The movement reacted against cerebral abstract expressionism. They gathered in the 1950s to discuss the rise of popular culture and aspects of commercialism that were not considered part of "traditional art". Before the term Pop Art, the name of this movement was “the new Brutalism”, a more descriptive term, which generalized the artistic themes present in the movement. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Richard Hamilton was one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century. He pioneered the Pop Art movement and his ideas paved the way for emerging modern artists. Hamilton introduced ideas regarding the commercial world and the integration of modern visual sources into high art. “I would like to think of my purpose as finding what is epic in everyday objects.” Hamilton saw Pop Art as a way of life and believed that the artist should be an active consumer and contributor to mass culture. Until then art was considered separate from mass culture, however Pop Art aimed to bridge this gap. Hamilton explored and considered all visual sources, especially those driven by the commercial world. It aimed for total immersion in popular culture, such as film, television and music. “The artist in twentieth-century urban life is inevitably a consumer of mass culture and potentially a contributor to it.” This led to subsequent collaborations with the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. Hamilton was a painter and collage artist; he created visual juxtapositions that aimed to capture the energy of the evolving modern world. His works vary from collages, paintings and sketches and even a combination of the three. It combined a variety of sources such as magazines, television, advertising and other media that were not previously considered "art". Hamilton combined text in his works to comment on the superficial nature of the commercial world, while also being an active member of it. One of Hamilton's most influential works "What makes today's homes so different, so attractive?" the name Pop Art was born. In this collage he depicted a muscular man holding a paddle with the word "POP" on it. From here he gave an identity to the entire 'Pop Art' movement. Not only Hamilton's works.