Darsie Alexander

Edward Ruscha ---- Standard Station, 1966

A huge volume of essays and photos of the international Pop art scene from the 1950s right through those swinging 1960s and early 1970s. Wow! What a collection. Many, many artists represented here, a good number will be new names for most people and several will be more familiar, such as Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, David Hockney, Yves Klein, Claus Oldenburg and Richard Rauschenberg.

The book delves into how the artists from every corner of the globe engaged and sometimes combated the many radical developments within culture and politics, creating art with a fresh spirit and excitement on such hot-button subjects as war, consumerism, race, class and gender. No doubt about it – there was a serious sense of urgency going down in their art. To provide context and a deeper understanding, International Pop also includes a good number of essays written by many art historians, art critics and scholars of art and culture from around the world.

Darsie Alexander’s book connects with the outstanding art exhibit of International Pop currently at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and since I actually had an opportunity to attend this exhibit, my review will take a personal tone. Below are my observation and comments on several works of Pop art I particularly enjoyed at the museum. The book is fabulous, I recommend highly, however, when it comes to the visual arts, there is nothing like encountering each work of art in the original, with your own eyes. By the way, the Philadelphia exhibit runs from now until May 15th and has been well attended – many, many people, young and old, from many diverse backgrounds and, from what I could see walking from room to room, each and every person was having a blast. Not exactly party time, but it was close.

Edward Ruscha ---- Standard Station, 1966
This striking painting is monumental in size – 10 feet long x 5 feet high. In a way, I was reminded of sitting in a front row seat at a movie theater and looking up at the huge screen. Anyway, the colors: red, white, yellow, black really explode. I include black as a color here since, although it isn’t a shiny black, the black has an unmistakable vibrancy both in the upper right triangle and also alternating with the yellows under the station’s sign. And, since I enjoy the hard-edge geometry of Piet Mondrian and Victor Vasarely, I likewise feasted my eyes on all the clear, crisp angles: the lights, the building, the Standard sign, even the gas pumps. That one word – Standard – quite effective for the overall aesthetic, not even close to cluttering up the visual impact. I'm certain there could be a number of points one could make in terms of the painting's statement on American society or 1960s culture, but for me this painting is Pop art’s answer to the raw energy and monumentality of that other pre-Pop American painter – Jackson Pollock.

Wanda Pimentel ---- Untitled - Série Envolvimento, 1967
Looking at those bold greens and reds I wasn’t surprised when I saw on the card next to the painting that Wanda Pimental is from Brazil. There is a sense of mystery and intrigue here. Who is sitting on that chair with their very white legs crossed behind the door, white legs made all the more white by the black seat of the chair, black that’s picked up again by the outline of the various colors, fixtures and the doorknob’s outer circle? And not only do we have the black but also red repeated three times on the door. Letting those greens and reds along with black and white really soak in, I was reminded of something from Brazil that also shares those greens and reds with a touch of black and white. Jogging my memory, I remembered - ah, yes, of course, Brazilian macaws and parrots!


Wanda Pimentel ---- Untitled - Série Envolvimento, 1967

Tom Wesselmann ---- Still Life #35, 1963
Growing up in the US in the 1950s and 1960s, advertisements and commercialism wasn’t part of culture, it was culture. From sunrise to sundown, from turning on the TV to riding in your car on the roads with all the many billboards and store signs, good-bye nature, hello products for your buying pleasure. White bread, soft drinks, cigarettes, air travel – you have the bucks, we have as many products as you want. As they say, with capitalism, it isn’t each according to his or her needs, it’s each according to his or her greed. Love the irony of the title of this billboard size painting – Still Life. Well, there are a couple of lemons to remind art lovers of Cezanne.


Tom Wesselmann ---- Still Life #35, 1963

Antônio Henrique Amaral ---- Homenagem séc. XX/XXI (20th/21st-Century Tribute), 1967
This large painting by this Brazilian artist was the first one greeting visitors to the International Pop art exhibit. This really sets the tone: the four tongues sticking out of red lips reminded me of the blue meanies from Yellow Submarine. And why are those tongues sticking out? At the American flag, symbol of the dominant world culture? What I find most appealing with this painting is the imagination, things like one head with two noses, four sets of tongues, teeth and lips and one very establishmentarian tie and button-down shirt, all in such playful patterns and rich, strong colors. I went back to view this painting several times, each time I’d pick up more detail: the stars within gold stars at the bottom, points of two stars positioned rather ominously on either side of the subject’s throat, the connection of this painting with Jasper Johns’ American Flag, the two noses doubling as the top of a magic mushroom.


Antonio Henrique Amaral ---- Homenagem séc. XX/XXI (20th/21st-Century Tribute), 1967

Rufino Tamayo, Mexican – The Mad Dog, 1943
Here is a bit of unexpected magic. After leaving the International Pop exhibit, I walked down a hall and came upon this painting by Mexican artist, Rufino Tamayo. I was transfixed. The Mad Dog captures both the terror of a dog made mad by rabies and the tenderness of, well, being a dog. The way the artist portrays the mad dog’s eyes, its tongue, its teeth, its head, its whole canine being in browns, greys and reds – truly remarkable. Perhaps viewing all that Pop art prepped me for the boldness of Rufino Tamayo's vision and execution but whatever it was, I was truly blessed by the gods of art.


Rufino Tamayo, Mexican – The Mad Dog, 1943… (mere)

Edward Ruscha ---- Standard Station, 1966

A huge volume of essays and photos of the international Pop art scene from the 1950s right through those swinging 1960s and early 1970s. Wow! What a collection. Many, many artists represented here, a good number will be new names for most people and several will be more familiar, such as Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, David Hockney, Yves Klein, Claus Oldenburg and Richard Rauschenberg.

The book delves into how the artists from every corner of the globe engaged and sometimes combated the many radical developments within culture and politics, creating art with a fresh spirit and excitement on such hot-button subjects as war, consumerism, race, class and gender. No doubt about it – there was a serious sense of urgency going down in their art. To provide context and a deeper understanding, International Pop also includes a good number of essays written by many art historians, art critics and scholars of art and culture from around the world.

Darsie Alexander’s book connects with the outstanding art exhibit of International Pop currently at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and since I actually had an opportunity to attend this exhibit, my review will take a personal tone. Below are my observation and comments on several works of Pop art I particularly enjoyed at the museum. The book is fabulous, I recommend highly, however, when it comes to the visual arts, there is nothing like encountering each work of art in the original, with your own eyes. By the way, the Philadelphia exhibit runs from now until May 15th and has been well attended – many, many people, young and old, from many diverse backgrounds and, from what I could see walking from room to room, each and every person was having a blast. Not exactly party time, but it was close.

Edward Ruscha ---- Standard Station, 1966
This striking painting is monumental in size – 10 feet long x 5 feet high. In a way, I was reminded of sitting in a front row seat at a movie theater and looking up at the huge screen. Anyway, the colors: red, white, yellow, black really explode. I include black as a color here since, although it isn’t a shiny black, the black has an unmistakable vibrancy both in the upper right triangle and also alternating with the yellows under the station’s sign. And, since I enjoy the hard-edge geometry of Piet Mondrian and Victor Vasarely, I likewise feasted my eyes on all the clear, crisp angles: the lights, the building, the Standard sign, even the gas pumps. That one word – Standard – quite effective for the overall aesthetic, not even close to cluttering up the visual impact. I'm certain there could be a number of points one could make in terms of the painting's statement on American society or 1960s culture, but for me this painting is Pop art’s answer to the raw energy and monumentality of that other pre-Pop American painter – Jackson Pollock.

Wanda Pimentel ---- Untitled - Série Envolvimento, 1967
Looking at those bold greens and reds I wasn’t surprised when I saw on the card next to the painting that Wanda Pimental is from Brazil. There is a sense of mystery and intrigue here. Who is sitting on that chair with their very white legs crossed behind the door, white legs made all the more white by the black seat of the chair, black that’s picked up again by the outline of the various colors, fixtures and the doorknob’s outer circle? And not only do we have the black but also red repeated three times on the door. Letting those greens and reds along with black and white really soak in, I was reminded of something from Brazil that also shares those greens and reds with a touch of black and white. Jogging my memory, I remembered - ah, yes, of course, Brazilian macaws and parrots!

Wanda Pimentel ---- Untitled - Série Envolvimento, 1967

Tom Wesselmann ---- Still Life #35, 1963
Growing up in the US in the 1950s and 1960s, advertisements and commercialism wasn’t part of culture, it was culture. From sunrise to sundown, from turning on the TV to riding in your car on the roads with all the many billboards and store signs, good-bye nature, hello products for your buying pleasure. White bread, soft drinks, cigarettes, air travel – you have the bucks, we have as many products as you want. As they say, with capitalism, it isn’t each according to his or her needs, it’s each according to his or her greed. Love the irony of the title of this billboard size painting – Still Life. Well, there are a couple of lemons to remind art lovers of Cezanne.

Tom Wesselmann ---- Still Life #35, 1963

Antônio Henrique Amaral ---- Homenagem séc. XX/XXI (20th/21st-Century Tribute), 1967
This large painting by this Brazilian artist was the first one greeting visitors to the International Pop art exhibit. This really sets the tone: the four tongues sticking out of red lips reminded me of the blue meanies from Yellow Submarine. And why are those tongues sticking out? At the American flag, symbol of the dominant world culture? What I find most appealing with this painting is the imagination, things like one head with two noses, four sets of tongues, teeth and lips and one very establishmentarian tie and button-down shirt, all in such playful patterns and rich, strong colors. I went back to view this painting several times, each time I’d pick up more detail: the stars within gold stars at the bottom, points of two stars positioned rather ominously on either side of the subject’s throat, the connection of this painting with Jasper Johns’ American Flag, the two noses doubling as the top of a magic mushroom.

Antonio Henrique Amaral ---- Homenagem séc. XX/XXI (20th/21st-Century Tribute), 1967

Rufino Tamayo, Mexican – The Mad Dog, 1943
Here is a bit of unexpected magic. After leaving the International Pop exhibit, I walked down a hall and came upon this painting by Mexican artist, Rufino Tamayo. I was transfixed. The Mad Dog captures both the terror of a dog made mad by rabies and the tenderness of, well, being a dog. The way the artist portrays the mad dog’s eyes, its tongue, its teeth, its head, its whole canine being in browns, greys and reds – truly remarkable. Perhaps viewing all that Pop art prepped me for the boldness of Rufino Tamayo's vision and execution but whatever it was, I was truly blessed by the gods of art.

Rufino Tamayo, Mexican – The Mad Dog, 1943… (mere)