ARTES BERLIN ∙ Auguststraße 19 ∙ 10117 Berlin
OPENING HOURS:
Tuesday to Friday: 11 am to 6 pm
Saturday: 12 pm to 6 pm, and by appointment
Phone: 030 / 28 88 38 69 ∙ Email: info@artesberlin.de
POP SHOP
until 29 January 2022
ARTES Berlin presents a variety of works of Pop and Street Art by internationally renowned artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Julian Opie, Tom Wesselmann, Keith Haring, Banksy, and Mr Brainwash, along with positions of contemporary art by Marion Eichmann, Willi Siber, Albert Hien, and KERA, among others.
Can the everyday be art? How delightful it is that this question can be answered with a yes. Pop and Street Art connect art and everyday life, with elementary features being the often trivial motifs known from pop culture, media, and advertising.
The subjects are taken out of their original context and shown in a different environment, thus altering their meaning. Numerous artists used promotional items, advertising signs, comic books, photographs, and magazines as design templates for their works. Pop Art impresses with its flat and illustrative style combined with an intense colour palette. The movement began with a loose group of painters and graphic artists who abandoned the traditional concept of fine art and dedicated themselves to "popular art production." Together, they invented a new way of creation that became the foundation of the movement.
On the other hand, determining the origins of the Street Art movement is much more difficult, as it emerged from graffiti and an urban subculture. Banksy has made Street Art respectable in international museums and galleries, paving the way for other artists.
Pop Art turns the mass produced into art while maintaining an ironic undertone that can also be seen as a critique of consumer society. Andy Warhol once famously said, "The most beautiful thing in Tokyo is McDonald's. The most beautiful thing in Stockholm is McDonald's. The most beautiful thing in Florence is McDonald's. Beijing and Moscow don't have anything beautiful yet."
One of the favourite mediums of those artists was screen printing because reproducing an artwork offers the opportunity for many collectors to own an original. Pop Art and contemporary Street Art break down barriers and democratise art in a mostly playful manner. The exhibition titled POP SHOP examines a glimpse of that cosmos, inspired by a well-known series of works by Keith Haring.
