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  • Essay / A Critique of the Commercial World in the Works of Richard Hamilton

    The 1950s saw a significant rise in commercialism and mass culture. The world was becoming more and more superficial and artists like Richard Hamilton used art to analyze and criticize the commercial world. Using text and image, Richard Hamilton appealed to the ordinary person, bridging the gap between everyday life and high art. However, he was still capable of creating controversial works commenting on the modern world. The world was created by nature, but in the 1950s everything was man-made. The commercial world had emerged, causing a rise in mass production and popular culture. The economy began to recover and it was a time of economic boom. Wartime technologies were transformed into household appliances and these mass-produced products were advertised. Television, radio, magazines, billboards, neon signs, bright, bold, eye-catching colors were everywhere. Thanks to new technologies, filmmaking, celebrity culture and Hollywood have boomed. The world is changing rapidly and artists must react. Richard Hamilton helped form Pop Art and an artistic movement commenting on the superficiality of the commercial world. Pop Art originated in England and began with a group of young British artists, architects and critics. The movement reacted against cerebral abstract expressionism. They came together in the 1950s to discuss the rise of popular culture and aspects of commercialism that were not considered part of "mainstream art." Before the term Pop Art, the name of this movement was "the new brutalism", a more descriptive term, generalizing the artistic themes found in the movement. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Richard Hamilton was one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. He pioneered the Pop Art movement and his ideas paved the way for new modern artists. Hamilton introduced ideas surrounding the commercial world and the integration of modern visual sources into high art. “I would like to consider my goal as a search for what is epic in everyday objects.” Hamilton viewed Pop Art as a way of life and the artist had to be an active consumer and contributor to mass culture. Until then, art was considered distinct from mass culture, but Pop Art aimed to bridge this gap. Hamilton explored and considered all visual sources, especially those from the commercial world. It aimed for total immersion in popular culture, for example cinema, television and music. “In 20th-century urban life, the artist is inevitably a consumer of mass culture and potentially a contributor to it. » This led to later collaboration with the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. Hamilton was a painter and collage artist; he created visual juxtapositions aimed at capturing the energy of the evolving modern world. His works vary from collages, paintings and sketches and even a combination of all three. He merged a variety of sources such as magazines, television, advertising and other media that were not previously considered art. Hamilton combined text in his works to comment on the superficial nature of the commercial world, while also being an active member of it. One of Hamilton's most influential works "What makes today's homes so different and so attractive?" the name Pop Art was born. In this.