Call Me Bananas

Call Me Bananas

                      To many, he was beyond the brink of insanity, an eccentric and controversial artist with a new perspective on art, a new take on art that to most had never seemed capable of catching on. To most people's surprise, however, this new and original interpretation on art would end up being celebrated as one of the most iconic renditions of art in the history of the world. Whether how bananas the famous leader of Pop Art may have been regarded as, however, none could hardly deny the vibrance and originality of his pieces. His vibrantly shaded takes on everyday products like "Campbell's Soup" cans, bottles of "Coca-Cola" began to invent a whole new take on art, a variant on art that seemed to set no boundaries. 

You think back to the masterpieces of old, the realistic theme attached to all of history's art produced during the premature eras in society. You have the "Renaissance Era" as well as the "Victorian Age's" detailed and intricate takes on art. There would no longer be a focus on natural earthy colors, however, the kinds that make up a realistic painting, paintings fashioned to display exactly the features of one's surroundings. The art world would now be ribboned with endless combinations of bright and unrealistic colors, a chronicle of poppy pinks, yellows as vibrant as the sun, lime greens, bright blues etc., Those would be the ingredients for "Pop Art's" era, an era that would overtake and plague society during the 60's and then on. 

There'd been plenty of controversial artists before Andy's time however, Vincent Van Gogh, Matisse, etc. So, you see, the unusual construction as well as unique spin on basic surroundings hadn't been that much of an unexpected break through. Creative takes on landscapes/people had been a form of art that had already been dabbled in. Van Gogh's "Starry Night" immediately comes to mind for me as one of the most controversial takes on art from the early years of history, an artist whose time had been many years before Andy Warhol even became a name to society. 

                      I feel that Andy's combination of bright colors, as well as his use of everyday American products, made his art so unique. It was also, in my opinion, his constant habit of incorporating repeated patterns all doused in enticingly rich colors that offered a plethora of inspiration for the fashion movement of the early 60's all the way into the late 70's and somewhat early 80's. 

              It had also been through Andy that one of America's biggest superstars would come into play. Edie Sedgwick, a close net friend of Andy's as well as a sole source of his inspiration in the art industry would become America's "It Girl" within the days preceding her premature death. 

         
                The two would become very celebrated figures in American Culture.  
                      
                  

Either way you look at it, or whether or not you appreciate his lively and dramatic take on art, I'm sure you at least are able to appreciate it, to somewhat relate to it. After all, I imagine a great percentage of you have had a coke or seen a photograph of Marilyn Monroe at least once in your life! 

That's what made his art so popular, the parallel aspects of his art, an art that gave people the opportunity to somewhat relate to.

"What’s great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coca Cola, Liz Taylor drinks Coca Cola, and just think, you can drink Coca Cola, too. A coke is a coke and no amount of money can get you a better coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the cokes are the same and all the cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it."

--Andy Warhol

Perhaps, it had solely been his ability to create and incorporate a sense of thrill into unexciting, everyday objects in one's life, perhaps that had been the secret ingredient to his insane level of fame. Whatever the cause may have been, we are all able to relate to and understand his art in our own special ways. To us, his repeated patterns and unique coloring tactics used on such things as Cokes and Campbell's Soup cans, hold a meaning entirely directed towards us, to our pasts, possibly an experience with coke or soup that we may have had in our lives. Perhaps the interpretation of these common objects have the ability to somewhat take us back to the pleasant memories behind them, like the time you sat on the back porch with your cousin, drinking iced-cold bottles of Cola, or what about that time that your mother brought you a warm bowl of Campbell's soup while you battled some miserable cold? 

It was with his ability to weave a whirlwind of memories into his creative spins on everyday objects, his tendency to offer meaning to some of the most ordinary/average things in one's life that, in my opinion, merited him his uncanny level of fame... his steady place in the history of art!

So, with that said... I'm sure we can all offer a toast to this leader of "Pop Art" and willingly celebrate his 85th B-day! ;) Have a fabulous evening, my Lovelies! <3