POPULAR CULTURE
Contemporary art is often informed by current events, the latest trends, concerns and controversies. Imagery and topics prevalent in popular culture and massively reproduced in movies, comic books, and advertisements frequently become subject of inquiry for artists who articulate their agency to address societal or personal shifts as individuals and as part of the collective. These artists approach art making from multiple, interdisciplinary perspectives and combine media inherent to popular consumption with poignant social commentary. These artworks challenge traditional definitions of high art and consider the intersections between fine art and mass culture. Ranging from political and social issues to advertisement, music, and film, this selection attests to the creativity and ingenuity of artists working today who depart from tradition to embrace a bold, critical perspective with humor and depth.
Rosalyn Drexler (American, b. 1926)
This work belongs to a series of paintings by Rosalyn Drexler that present cinematic images. The source for this image is the 1961 movie The Misfits directed by John Huston with a cast that included Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe, depicted here.
Accession Number: 2015.1.9
Title: The Misfits
Date: 1961
Medium: Acrylic and paper collage on canvas
Rights: © Rosalyn Drexler/ Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
KEYWORDS
popular culture; movies; film; noir; Hollywood; celebrities.
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Jay Lynn Gomez (American, b. 1986)
In this work, Gomez intervenes an advertisement from a popular magazine by painting figures that are traditionally left out of this type of representation. Here, she added the laborers who keep the gardens and pools of the wealthy in optimal conditions and who are rarely shown in family pictures like this one. Poignantly, Gomez turns an element of popular culture—magazine advertisement—into a nuanced social critique about labor, race, belonging, and art.
Accession Number: 2013.41
Title: Portrait of an Affluent Family
Date: 2013
Medium: Acrylic on magazine paper
Rights: © Jay Lynn Gomez
KEYWORDS magazines; advertisement; labor; identity; immigration; popular culture.
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Kota Ezawa (German, b. 1969)
Contemporary artists often engage in dialogue about current events prevalent in the media. Here, Ezawa reinforces the gesture of solidarity demonstrated by the Washington Commanders when they locked arms during the National Anthem in support of their colleague Colin Kaepernick who had been disparaged by the sitting president via Twitter. Based on images of that moment that circulated online, the work emphasizes unity and demands racial justice in the world of sports and beyond.
Accession Number: 2019.2.20
Title: National Anthem (Washington Redskins)
Date: 2019
Medium: Duratrans transparency and lightbox
Rights: © Kota Ezawa
KEYWORDS
football; race; identity; television; controversy; unity; National Anthem; protest; sports; popular culture; Donald Trump.
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Deborah Kass (American, b. 1952)
Deborah Kass’ artistic practice coalesces the language of popular culture with art history to articulate critical commentary about feminism and identity, among other things. Here Kass depicts Barbra Streisand in the film Yentl (1983), in which Streisand played a Jewish woman who cross-dressed to become a Talmudic scholar. Kass places herself in the role of Andy Warhol, who used an identical composition and process to depict Elvis Presley in the mid-’60s.
Accession Number: 2013.34.91
Title: Triple Ghost Yentl (My Elvis),
Date: 1997
Medium: Silkscreen and acrylic on canvas
Rights: © Deborah Kass / Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York
KEYWORDS
film; identity; pop music; pop art; actress; movies; celebrity; popular culture.
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Rinaldo Frattolillo (American, b. 1935)
Rinaldo Frattolillo’s work is filled with irony, humor, and social commentary, which he articulates eloquently through the creation of images of everyday objects and motifs. Here, Frattolillo represents the well-known packaging of the Toblerone chocolate bar, rebranding it
“Testosterone,” and creates a parallel between male desire and gustatory pleasure. Though humorous, the image speaks to the commodification of human pleasure and the easily replicated multiples, be it chocolate, sex, or art in contemporary consumer culture.
Accession Number: 2013.34.63
Title: Mr. Goodbar
Date: 2007
Medium: Screenprint
Rights: Image courtesy of the artist
KEYWORDS
humor; desire; pleasure; food; reproducibility; consumerism; masculinity; popular culture.
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Brian Burkhardt (American, b. 1971)
Brian Burkhardt uses sports here as a metaphor for the (un)healthy competition that characterizes consumer culture, the world of designer fashion, and its ubiquitous presence in popular culture. The two racquets are covered in the iconic Louis Vuitton brown and gold leather slips, one vintage, the other recreated by the artist. Complex in its layers of meaning, the piece comments on the parallels between the pursuits of the fashionista and those of the art collector.
Accession Number: 2015.1.7
Title: Tennis
Date: 2014
Medium: Tooled leather, vintage Louis Vuitton tennis racquet cover, distressed tennis ball
Rights: Image courtesy of the artist.
KEYWORDS
fashion; designers; sports; status; originals; replicas; luxury goods; competition; popular culture.
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Jeffrey Gibson (American, b. 1972)
An American of Choctaw and Cherokee heritage, Gibson grew up abroad, experiencing life from outside his culture. Upon his return to the United States, he struggled to fit in as his Native heritage and homosexuality caused him to face feelings of anger as an outsider. This piece combines elements that speak to Gibson’s Native American heritage as well as to popular culture and references George Michael’s famous song Freedom! popular in the 1990s.
Accession Number: 2017.6.29
Title: I Don’t Belong To You, You Don’t Belong To Me
Date: 2016
Medium: Glass beads, tin jingles, artificial sinew, acrylic felt, canvas over wood panel
Rights: Image courtesy of the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles, California
KEYWORDS pop music; Native American; identity; belonging; heritage; gender; homosexuality; popular culture.
OBJECT FILE
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Hank Willis Thomas (American, b. 1976)
Boxer Muhammad Ali once stated “I’m not the greatest. I’m the double greatest....” His words are immortalized by Thomas in this oversized version of the pins sold to fundraise for political campaigns and to show support for a cause. It addresses identity, popular culture, and social justice and emphasizes Ali’s use of his visibility to advocate for equality. By highlighting the athlete’s words, Thomas affirms Ali’s influence in the public sphere.
Accession Number: 2016.3.18
Title: I am the Greatest
Date: 2012
Medium: Mixed media
Rights: © Hank Willis Thomas. Image courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
KEYWORDS
politics; campaigns; sports; Muhammad Ali; public communication; identity; civil rights; signage; advertisements; social justice; popular culture. VIEW
OBJECT FILE
Einar and Jamex de la Torre (Mexican, b.
1963 and 1960)
Combining banal, everyday mass-produced objects with references to millenary cultures, the De La Torre Brothers articulate irreverent critiques of our appetite for consumerism. In this piece a confluence of old and new, historical and contemporary raises questions about the concept of sacrifice. It responds directly to the artists’ experience with organ donation and addresses issues of belonging, identity and the extreme opposites between fine art and the mass produced.
Accession Number: 2019.3
Title: Organ Exchange
Date: 2011
Medium: Blown glass and mixed media
Rights: Image Courtesy of the artists and Koplin Del Rio Gallery
KEYWORDS
kitsch; colonialism; reproducibility; consumer culture; Aztec; Maya; popular culture; public; political; health; transplants; toys; humor; opposites.
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Patrick Martinez (American, b. 1980)
Social, political, and cultural issues inform Martinez’s practice. Recent events such as the incidents of police brutality in 2020 are the focus of this piece, which Martinez created to raise funds in support of organizations that advocate for racial equality. The Pee-Chee folder, typically associated with children and learning environments, functions as a memorial for the victims and as a reminder of racism’s legacy. The images highlight George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor.
Accession Number: 2020.36
Title: Racism Doesn’t Rest During a Pandemic Pee Chee (No Justice No Peace)
Date: 2020
Medium: Four-color offset folder print
Rights: © 2020 Carlos Patrick Martinez
KEYWORDS
police brutality; racism; popular culture; inequality; summer 2020; power; abuse; pandemic.
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ADDITIONAL WORKS
Elinor Carucci, Court Collar, 2020
Takashi Murakami, Oval, 2000
Hank Willis Thomas, Behind every great man..., 1973/2015, 2015
Fred Tomaselli, May 2, 2011, 2012
Matthew Brannon, Éphémère (Radicals and Establishment), 2018
