‘POP: FAME, LOVE AND POWER’ is a landmark exhibition bringing together iconic works from the most notable museums, artist estates, art foundations and private art collections globally. The works of most of these artists have never been exhibited in India, creating a one-of-a-kind opportunity for the Indian audience to engage intimately with these artists and artworks for the very first time.
With roots in the changing cultural and political landscape of America during 1960s-1980s, the Pop Art movement transformed ‘popular culture’ into high art, drawing inspiration from mass advertising, celebrity culture and comic books.
For this exhibition, the themes of Fame, Love and Power will span across the three floors of the Art House, offering visitors three unique spaces for discovery, with each floor dedicated to an individual theme. The fourth floor will be dedicated to a unique installation titled ‘Silver Clouds’ by Andy Warhol, which will immerse the audience in one of Warhol’s few interactive art installations.
The first floor of POP is dedicated to Fame. Here visitors will witness some of the most quintessential pieces of the Pop movement works which reflect the meteoric rise of celebrity culture in the 1960s and 1970s of America, as well as the cult of television, and the romance and myth of Americana. Viewers will get to see four celebrity portraits (Giorgio Armani, Aretha Franklin, Gianni Versace and Sylvester Stallone) by Andy Warhol, as well as ‘45 Gold Marilyn’ - an iconic silkscreen painting of Marilyn Monroe. This floor will also include several works of Ed Ruscha such as ‘Level as a Level’ (2002) from his ‘Mountain’ series which is inspired by the artist’s obsession with Hollywood.
The second floor is dedicated to Love and will bring together five pioneers of the Pop movement who explored, questioned and rendered the theme of love. From Robert Indiana’s explorations of romance and passion to Keith Haring’s powerful statements on unity and human connection, this floor will showcase numerous iconic works by these artists – including a 6-feet love sculpture in direct juxtaposition to two intimate works by Tom Wesselmann from his bedroom series as well as ‘Portrait of a Woman’ (1979) by Roy Lichtenstein. It also explores the sense of love, unity, friendship, collaboration and idealization of beauty that artists capture within their subject matter.
The third floor explores the theme of Power. From Andy Warhol and Ed Ruscha’s obsession with branding and advertising to Robert Rauschenberg’s fascination with television and the rapidly changing media landscape, this floor will analyse Pop Art’s relationship to the theme of power that pervaded the political, cultural and commercial landscapes of the mid-late 20th century. On this floor, two masterpieces by Andy Warhol – ‘Sixteen Jackies’ (1964) and ‘Flowers’ (1964-65) – explore notions of power, symbolism and loss relating to Jackie Kennedy and John F. Kennedy. Also on the floor, are works from Elaine Sturtevant’s pivotal flower series that challenge the power dynamics of appropriation and the act of imitation. Viewers will discover two works by Robert Rauschenberg: ‘Periwinkle Shaft’ (1979), a monumental and rarely shown nine-metre collage painting.
