Pop Art Still Life (Art News-October 2012)

In Art Review journal there was a recent article abaout an exhibition show called 'The Still Life Tradition in Pop Art'. In the article was a piece of work by Tom Wesslemann called still life #34,1963 acryllic and collage on panel (see image below). The painting is in the style of a traditional still life, however it uses iconic 1960's consumer items instead. These items include, "a strawberry icecream soda, a bottle of Coca-Cola, a pack of Lucky Strike cigarettes, two walnuts, an uncomfortably positioned yellow pear and a blue vase with brigh red colours". The coloursin the painting are highly saturated in a way that makes the painting quite uncomfortable to look at as it appears so artificial. The subject image shows how Americans in the era of pop art (and modern day culture) indulge themselves to the point where they are being told what to buy to make the happy and are controlled through advertising. The painting is almost ridiculing the shallow consumer worship that has ensued from advertising.