Warhol of Fame
Adam Volk
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Japanese anime geeks rejoice: Manga-inspired work of Murakami
photo: Bruce Yamakawa, (c)2009 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Ki
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The National Gallery welcomes cream of the pop art world with new Pop Life exhibit
Preserved in a tank of iridescent formaldehyde, a dead, snow white foal looks out at the world through lifeless eyes, a glittering gold unicorn horn jutting from its head. It may sound like something out of a David Lynch film, but in fact it's a sculpture known as The Child's Dream, the work of controversial British artist Damien Hirst, one of the many superstars of the pop art movement whose iconic imagery is on display now at the National Gallery of Canada in the new exhibit Pop Life: Art in a Material World.Pioneered by Andy Warhol in the late '60s, the pop art movement remains a strange convergence of art, commerce and celebrity, with artists essentially marketing themselves alongside their creations. For the exhibit, Warhol's work takes front and centre, which is only fitting given the white-haired maven's role as the so-called "Grandfather of Pop Art" and his tireless love of the spotlight. The exhibit features a number of Warhol's legendary works, including 40 Gold Marilyns, a sprawling, black and gold homage to Hollywood starlet Marilyn Monroe and featuring Warhol's instantly recognizable style. The exhibit also offers unique archival materials, providing insight into how Warhol created the pop art movement and essentially branded himself as both a business and an artistic endeavour.
Pop Life also features a fascinating look at some of the many post-Warhol artists who continued the mandate of "art as business." Jeff Koons's much celebrated 1986 sculpture Rabbit,
for example, is a piece that's as much about being a commercial symbol as it is art (as is evident by the sculpture's appearance as a giant float in the 2007 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade).The exhibit also features the works of Keith Haring, the famed New York artist who gained popularity for his chalk subway drawings and clever mass-marketing of his own work. The exhibit captures the spirit of Haring's style with a faithful recreation of his "Pop Shop," a room-sized studio that blares '90s hip-hop music while allowing visitors to purchase T-shirts and merchandise bearing the artist's now-iconic symbols.
Of course, no pop art exhibit would be complete without examining the work of the aforementioned Damien Hirst, who has gained recent notoriety as one of the highest paid living artists, essentially taking up Warhol's torch as the forerunner of the neo-pop art movement. The exhibit recreates Hirst's 1992 combination painting/performance piece Ingo, with two paintings of colourful polka dots, under which sit two identical twins, Ottawa locals Cassy and Victoria, who were dressed in the same attire and only too happy to chat with curious onlookers.
The exhibit also looks to the east with the pop art works of Tokyo-born Takashi Murakami. Murakami is the creator of the so-called "superflat" movement, which is inspired by the colourful and chaotic imagery of Japanese manga comic books and anime. The exhibit, for example, features Murakami's short video Akihabara Majokko Princess, a surreal and sugary bubble gum pop video directed by Hollywood filmmaker McG and featuring starlet Kirsten Dunst as a living Japanese anime character strolling through Tokyo's neon-filled Akihabara district while dancing to the '80s pop anthem Turning Japanese. It's cheesy, fun and shamelessly commercial, capturing the Warholian spirit of the pop art movement.
Pop Life: Art in a Material World
@ National Gallery of Canada (380 Sussex Dr.), until Sept. 19
